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WEBSTER,  NY    \4580 

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CIHM/ICMH 

Microfiche 

Series. 


CIHM/ICMH 
Collection  de 
microfiches. 


Canadian  Institute  for  Historical  Microreproductions  /  Institut  canadien  de  microreproductions  historiques 


Technical  and  Bibliographic  Notes/Notes  techniques  et  bibliographiques 


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the  usual  method  of  filming,  are  checked  below. 


□ 
□ 


Coloured  covers/ 
Couverture  de  couleur 

Covers  damaged/ 
Couverture  endommagde 

Covers  restored  and/or  laminated/ 
Couverture  restaurde  et/ou  pellicul6e 

Cover  title  missing/ 

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Encre  de  couleur  (i.e.  autre  que  bleue  ou  noire) 


□    Coloured  plates  and/or 
Planches  et/ou  illustrat 


illustrations/ 
strations  en  couleur 


I — I    Bound  with  other  material/ 


□ 


D 


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Reli6  avec  d'autres  documents 

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L'Institut  a  microfilm^  le  meilleur  exemplaire 
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modification  dans  la  mithode  normale  de  filmage 
sont  indiquds  ci-dessous. 

□    Coloured  pages/ 
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D 
D 
Q 
D 
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Pages  damaged/ 
Pages  endommagdes 

Pages  restored  and/or  laminated/ 
Pages  restaur^es  et/ou  pelliculdes 

Pages  discoloured,  stained  or  foxed/ 
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Pages  detached/ 
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Showthrough/ 
Transparence 


I      I    Quality  of  print  varies/ 


D 


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Comprend  du  materiel  supplementaire 

Only  edition  available/ 
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obtenir  la  meilleure  image  possible. 


This  item  is  filmed  at  the  reduction  ratio  checked  below/ 

Ce  document  est  filmd  au  taux  de  reduction  indiqu^  ci-dessous. 


10X 

14X 

18X 

22X 

26X 

30X 

7 

12X                              16X                             20X                              24X                             28X                             32X 

The  copy  filmed  here  has  been  reproduce!^  thanks 
to  the  generosity  of: 

National  Library  of  Canada 


L'exemplaire  film6  fut  reproduit  grdce  d  la 
g6n6rosit6  de; 

Bibliothdque  nationalo  du  Canada 


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filming  contract  specifications. 


Les  images  suivantes  ont  6x6  reproduites  avec  le 
plus  grand  soin,  compte  tenu  de  la  condition  et 
de  la  nettetd  de  l'exemplaire  film6,  et  en 
conformity  avec  les  conditions  du  contrat  de 
filmage. 


Original  copies  in  printed  paper  covers  are  filmed 
beginning  with  the  front  cover  and  ending  on 
the  last  page  with  a  printed  or  illustrated  impres- 
sion, or  the  back  cover  when  appropriate.  All 
other  original  copies  are  filmed  beginning  on  the 
first  page  with  a  printed  or  illustrated  impres- 
sion, and  ending  on  the  last  page  with  a  printed 
or  illustrated  impression. 


The  last  recorded  frame  on  each  microfiche 
shall  contain  the  symbol  — ♦►  (meaning  "CON- 
TINUED"), or  the  symbol  V  (meaning  "END"), 
whichever  applios. 

Maps,  f.    tt      charts,  etc.,  may  be  filmed  at 
different  rfac' ^i;,on  rcitios.  Those  too  large  to  be 
entirely  includb  '  in  one  exposure  are  filmed 
beginning  in  the  upper  left  hand  corner,  left  to 
right  and  top  to  bottom,  as  many  frames  as 
required.  The  followiny  diagrams  illustrate  the 
method: 


Les  exempiaires  originaux  dont  la  couverture  en 
papier  est  imprim6e  sent  film6s  en  commenpant 
par  le  premier  plat  et  en  terminant  soit  par  la 
dernidre  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'impression  ou  d'illustration,  soit  par  le  secom' 
plat,  selon  le  cas.  Tous  les  autres  exempiaires 
originaux  sont  film6s  en  commenpant  par  la 
premidre  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'impression  ou  d'illustration  et  en  terminant  par 
la  dernidre  page  qui  comporte  une  telle 
empreinte. 

Un  des  symboles  suivants  apparaitra  sur  la 
dernidre  image  de  cheque  microfiche,  selon  le 
cas:  le  symbole  — ^-  signifie  "A  SUIVRE",  le 
symbole  V  signifie  "FIN". 

Les  cartes,  planches,  tableaux,  etc.,  peuvent  dtre 
film^s  d  des  taux  de  reduction  diff^rents. 
Lorsque  le  document  est  trop  grand  pour  §tre 
reproduit  en  un  seul  cliche,  il  est  filrn^  d  partir 
de  Tangle  supdrieur  gauche,  de  gauche  d  droite, 
et  de  haut  en  bas,  en  prenant  le  nombre 
d'images  n^cessaire.  Les  diagrammes  suivants 
illustrent  la  m6thode. 


1 

2 

3 

32X 


1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

I 


n 
^ 


Cbe  Cories  o);  Eoj)aUsts 


IN     AMERICA 


BEING 


SLIGHT    HISTORICAL    TRACINGS,    FROM    THE 

FOOTPRINTS  OF    SIR    JOHN    JOHNSON 

AND    HIS   CO'IEMPORARIES    IN 

THE  REVOLUTION. 


BY 


T.    BAILEY    MYERS. 


"  Ab  fas  aut  ab  nefas.  " 


Albany 

Fubb  of  Joel  Munsell's  Sons 

82  State  Street 

1882 


)^ 


L^ 


^i)t  Cories  ox  Ioj)ahsts 


IN     AMERICA 


BKING 


SLIGHT    HISTORICAL    TRACINGS,    FROM    THE 
FOOTPRINTS  OF    SIR    JOHN    JOHNSON 
AND    HIS   COTEMPORARIES    IN 
THE  REVOLUTION. 


T.    BAILEY   MYERS. 


''  Jb  fas  aut  ah  nefas.  " 


A!lMn> 

Fifbb  of  Joel  Munsell's  Sons 

82  State  Street 

1882 


THE  TORIES  OR  LOYALISTS. 


HE  accompanying  waits,  possessing  in 
themselves  as  little  intrinsic  interest  as 
continuity,  are  a  few  random  footprints 
of  Sir  John  Johnson's  life  of  exile,  soared 
h\-  the  tides  of  a  century  which  have 
effaced  many  of  his  once  deeper  im- 
pressions on  American  atfans.  They 
casually  fell  into  the  writer's  historical 
collection,  mingled  with  other  imported  manuscripts,  proving 
at  least,  that  some  antiquarian  in  the  old  world  had  considered 
them  worthy  of  preservation. 

The  knowledge  that  amongst  such  fragments  have  been 
found  the  key  to  valuable  facts,  and  the  elucidation  of  past 
events  obscured  by  time,  has.  as  we  know,  caused  a  growing 
interest  in  the  preservation  in  public  or  private  collections  or 
in  print,  of  anything  of  a  public  character,  produced  by  the 
brain  and  hands  of  men  who  made  some  mark  on  their  time 
before  passing  away. 

What  seems  of  little  value  to  one,  may  become  of  interest 
to  another,  and  we  know  that  there  are  few  thini^s  existing 
which  have  not  a  place  when  the  problem  of  supply  and  demand 
is  solved.  Even  a  rock  which  has  long  cumbered  the  ground 
becomes  valuable  when  broken  up  and  concreted  into  a  wall. 
1 


To 


'ories  or  Loyalists 


Al>lK,u,h  ,hcsepap„.  referred  ,„  ,hro„  very  li„|e,,„d  .har  a 
later  light  upon  the  unfortunate  c-.rpr>r  nf  «•      i  .       r  . 

"hicwiu  i,e  found  m„re,ui,;  „ ;:;; ''^  ■'"'"'  ■'f  •^'"•• 

in  .he   preceding  pages,   .he    ha        T    „^,  T::""    ^"'" 

-,.^,,,  c„u„„ng  „,  ,„e  e.,s,  „f  „ar  .han  of  i.  n,„re  i,„„„„„g 
Some   invesrigaior  „,   faets  „,av  find    u,   then,   a  suggesHon 

an  Illustration  of  the  house  in  which  he  lived 

w  th  General  de  Peys.er  ,  a„  enrhusiasr.c  student  and  conrmen- 
.«or  on   n,a,,,   o,  the  military  events  of  both   contineZ    n 

preparnrg  a  brochure  intended  to  illustrate  ,l„       r  '' 

,,(■  c;,  I  .       ,  .  Illustrate  the  military  career 

of  Sir  Jonn  John.on,  and  ainring  in  a  biographical  sketch  to 
remove  some  of  the  unanswered  obloquy  which  wa,  piled 
upon  h,m  as  the  exiled  adherent  of  a  lost  and  unpopular  cause  ■ 

-....  .o  .„e  u,  L,';i  J  ,il;:,  tr;°;:  s-Ti;  rr .« 


in  the  Revolution, 


with  ail  (Vderly  Book  as  a  basis,  has  induced  the  contribution 
of  these  fragments  as  an  annex   to   their   work. 

These  prefatory  notes  are  added  at  Mr.  Stone's  suggestion. 

The  task  of  Gen.  de  Peystcr  would  seem  to  any  unbiased 
reader  to  he  a  natural  one  to  a  collateral  descendant  thus  (jualified, 
and  infinitely  more  practicable  since  our  own  experiences  in  the 
great  Civil  War. 

In  the  division  oi  section,  familv  and  friends  which  it 
uiduced.  m  the  bittt-rness  of  the  feeling  and  vchenient  denun- 
ciation of  motive  and  action  it  called  forth,  were  reproduced 
those  of  the  Revolution  of  i  7  76,  only  upon  a  grander  scale.  Then 
men  weighcti  their  duties  and  responsibilities,  and  the  relative 
claims  of  the  flag  under  which  they  were  born,  or  those  of  the 
states  ill  which  ;hey  were  located,  and  compared  the  grievances 
which  had  caused  the  separation  from  Gre.tt  Britain  with 
those  claimed  to  have  succeeded  under  that  subsequent  Union 
of  the  States.  Lii  lecalling  the  teims  of  ridicule  and  reproach 
engendered  by  hatred,  exchanged  between  the  defenders  of  that 
Union  and  the  Confedenitcs,  and  the  little  credit  uiveii  by  either 

who    the   moment  the   bloody  banner,   were  displive.i,  ab..ndone.l   their  native  land 
urned  parnc.Jes    and   conspired  to  involve  their  coantry   in  tumult,  ruin  and  blood 
to  become  the  subjects  ot   and  reside  in  this  government;   that  it  would  be  not  only 
dangerous,  l,ut   mconsistent  with  justice,  pol.cy,  our  past  laws,  the  public  faith,  and 
he  prmcples  of   a  tree  and    independent  .tate,  to  ..dmit  them  ourselves,  or  to  have 
them  forced  upon  u.  without  our  consent."   *  -  *  *  "That  until  the  further  order 
of  he  govemment,  tl>ey  (the  committees  of  Correspondence,  Inspection  and  Safety  , 
will,  with  deusion,  sp.nt,  and  rirmne^s,  endeavor  to  enforce  and  carry  into  execution 
the  several  laws  of  this  Commonwealth,  respecting   these  enemies  of'  our  rights,  and 
the  rights  ot  mankind  J   give  infornation,  should  thev  know  of  any  obtruding  them- 
selves   into  any  part  or  this  Stat.,  surfer  none  to  remain  in  this  town,  but  cause  to  be 
conhned    immediately,  for   th-    purpose  of  transportation  according    to  law,  any  that 
may  presume  to  enter  it."      These  were  the  general  terms  meted   out  to  the  Tories 
recorded    in  the  "Journal   and  Letters   M  Samuel  Curwen,  Judge  of  Admiralty,"  a 
"Harvard  Man      of    1735,  ■'"J  '"Lis  time  a   valued  citizen.      Although    not   an 
active    partisan    he    passed   into  exile  through   his  scruples   in    177c,  but   as  an   ex- 
ceptional case  was  allowed   to  return,  in  the  ensuing  year,  to  live    and  die  at  his  old 
home  in  Salem,  in  1802. 


6  Tories  or  Loyalists 

to  the  sense  of  duty  which  actuated  their  (ippoiieiits,  we   can. 
understand,  now  that  temporary  teeling  is  rapidly  passing  away, 
that  in  the  earlier  struggle  there  clearly  frequently  existed  as 
honest  and  as  opposite  convictions  of  right. 

Surely  the  time  has  arrived  when  we  can  discuss  without 
temper,  the  motives,  and  appreciate  the  loyalty  to  their  gov- 
ernment, the  sacrifice  of  life  and  property,  and  the  sufferings 
by  confiscation  and  exile  of  that  valuable  material  for  continued 
citizenship  —  numbering  at  least  twenty  thousand  of  the  inhabi- 
tants of  a  sparsely  settled  and  devastated  country  —  then  trans- 
ferred  as    Refugees    into    Nova  Scotia  and   Canada^    to   form 

3  The  following  paper  eiidorseii  "i6o,  Projiusals  for  a  G(;ner,il  Naturalizafion 
Bill,"  from  the  contents  and  tiic  appearance  of  the  carefully  written  manuscript,  and 
of  the  observations  which  follow  it,  was  evidently  suhmitted  to  Parliament  soon  after 
the  Peace —  it  is  considered  worthy  of  a  place,  as  showing  the  value  attached  by  the 
British  tJovernnuMit  to  her  exiled  adherents,  and  her  desire  to  retain  them  in 
her  remaining  Colonies,  as  to  her  a  tried  element  of  pupulation.  It  will  be  observed 
tnat  while  providing  for  all  classes  of  Toric?,  it  ingeniously  invites  the  ''Rebels," 
whom  it  assumes  lO  be  already  dissatiitied  with  their  new  experiment,  to  join   them. 

"TiiK  Inhauitants  ok  the  Unitkd  Staiks  who  took  part  with  the  British  (iov- 
ernment  by  remaining  or  by  cijntinuing  within  the  I, ities  during  the  War  in  America, 
and  who  have  since  removed  into  any  part  of  the  British  Dominions  having  never  done 
anything  to  forfeit  their  original  rights  and  privileges  as  British  Subjects,  are  in  that 
respect,  in  the  same  situation  as  at  tirst,  and  have  no  want  of  any  act  of  Parliament 
on  that  account.  .Some  of  the  Americ.ins  who  did  not  remove  within  the  Lines,  have 
continued  obstinately  Non-jurors  to  the  United  States  to  this  das.  These  men 
during  the  War  sultered  much  in  their  property  by  the  pavment  of  double  Taxes, 
and  underwent  many  personal  inconveniences,  and  even  insult«,  and  though  their 
situation  niay  be  rendered  somewhat  more  Tolerable  by  the  Peace,  yet  it  must  be 
jurticiently  disagreeable  to  induce  them  to  change  it,  and  to  remove  within  the 
British  Dominions,  as  soon  as  they  conveniently  can  do  it.  In  what  light  are  they 
to  be  regarded,  on  their  arrival  in  Nova  Scotia,  or  Canada,  or  elsewhere  in  the 
British  Dominion  ?  Are  they  still  British  Subjects,  or  mu-t  they  be  at  the  expense 
of  soliciting  Acts  of  Naturalization  ?  They  were  originally  Natural  Born  Subjects, 
they  took  the  Oath  of  Allegiance  to  the  Crown  of  Great  Biitaiii,  and  they  have 
never  taken  any  other  Oath  of  Allegiance,  how  then  can  they  consistently  with 
common  reason  and  equity  be  regarded  as  Aliens,  and  on  their  arrival  in  the  British 
Dominions,  to  claim  privileges  which  are  their  birthright,  and  which  they  have 
never  forfeited  by  any  Act  of  Theirs,  be  put  to  the  expense  of  being  naturalized  ? 
Are  they  not  rather  to  be  treated  as  subjects  returning  from  a  foreign  country,  in 
which  adverse  Circumstances  have  detained  them,  contrary  to  their  Inclinations  and 


in  the  Revolution, 


the  best  elements  of  population  in  a  country  in  which  they 
declared  on  their  sad  departure,  they  expected  to  endure  "  nine 
months  of  winter  and  three  of  cold  weather  in  each  year." 
When  the  subsequent  war  of  i8i2  was  carried  to,  and  across 
the  Canadian  frontier,  our  soldiers  found  in  this  rejected  material 
their  most  determined  opponents.  They  naturally  had  little  in 
common  with  those,  once  their  countrymen,  but  then  only  geo- 
graphically their  neighbors,  still  politically  their  foes,  and  the 

Wishes?     There   are   in    tlie    United    States,    men  of  a   different    description,   who 
collectively   form  a  numerous    Body,  men    who  from    the  first  uniformly  refused  to 
take  any  active  part  agiin;it  the  British  Government,  who  for  some  time  refused  to 
take  the  Oath  of  Alleyiance  to  the  United  Stires,  l)Ut  were  by  the  force  of  Vexations, 
personal  insult,  and  menances,  linally    brought  to   submit    to    preserve    their    estates 
from  confiscation,  and  themselves  and  families  frcnn   suffering  the  last  extremities  of 
Want  and  Misery.      Those  men,  from   their  coming  in  so   late,  and    by  compulsion, 
to  acknowledge  the  Supremacy  of  the  United  States,  did  not  rejrain  f'uhtr  the  I'VimJ- 
ship  or  C'tnfidence  r.f  their  C'luntryineri,  they  simply  brought  their  persons  flnd  property 
within  the  protection  of  the  Law,  and  even   that   was  in  some   instances  at  least,  but 
nominally  such.     These    men,  whose    political    principles    have   not   been    changed, 
wish  to  remove,  if  it  could  be  done  on  any    Valuable  Terms.      But   they  must  think 
it  a  hard    i.ise  to    be  considered    as  Aliens,  and  be    obliged    to   sue  for    Acts    of  Na- 
turalization, at  a  great  and  ruinous  expense  and  Loss  of  Time,  and    to  pray  and  pay 
dearly  to  be  declared,  what   they  are   tonsci-ms  in  their    Hearts,  that  tliev  have  ever 
been,  British    Sul)jects.      The  last  and  most  numerous  Class,   and  who   have  neither 
Law  or  Ecjuity  to  urge,  but  good   (uilicy  only,    are  Merchants,  the  middle  and    lower 
Orders  of   Farmers,   Shipwrights,  Fishermen   and    Sailors.      That   is,  those  of  them 
who  voluntarily,  and  without  any  Force  or  compulsion,  took  an  early  and  active  part 
in    favor  of  the   Revolution,  who  at  the  Time  judging   from   appearances  and  repre- 
sentations made  to  them,  of  Absolute  Subjection  and   Slavery  on  the  one  hand,  and 
the  prospect  of  Liberty,  an  exemption  from  Taxes,  and  unbounded    and  unrestrained 
Commerce  on  the  other,  were  naturally  led,  and  as   it  were   necessarily  impelled,  by 
the  Motives  and  Objects    before  them,  to  take   the  part  which    they  tiicn    took,  but 
who   on    reflection   and    experience    perceive    their    Error,    find    all    those    favorable 
prospects    vanished,  and    in    their    place    Factions  and    Licentiousness    predominant, 
their  persons  or  Est  ites  loadeil  with   intolerable  Taxes,  and   their   Commerce,  more 
circumscribed  and    burthened   than  ever,  they   are  solicitous   to  regain    their    former 
political  situation,  by  removing  within  the  British  Dominions,  and  returning  to  their 
Ancient  and  heredinry  Allegiance,  if  they  can  be  received  and  admitted  to  the  same 
privileges,  as   other;  of  their  rank   and  orders  in   Life,  arc  entitled   to.      With  regard 
to  the   first,  that  is,  the  Lovalists  already    removed,  there  can  be    no  question.      For 
the  two  next,  the  actual    non-jurors  who  are  as  such  to  this  day,  and   those  who  by 
Violence  and  Menances,  were  forced  to  take  Oath .  of  Allegiance  to  the  New  Govern- 
ment, much   may  be   urged   in   their    favor,   both    in    Law   and    Equity.      As  to  the 
re-admission  of  the  latter,  by  much  the  most  numerous  Body,  and  rapidly  increasing, 
political  considerations  and  motives  alone  can   be  urged,  and  those  if  all  the  circum- 


8 


Tories  or  Loyalists 


occupants  of  their  forfeited  homes.  Compare  this  adjustment  in 
1783  with  the  more  wise  policy  of  our  government  in  the  late 
struggle,  where,  after  the  suppression  of  armed  resistance,  the 
citizens  were  soon  restored  to  civil  rights,  and  their  property  — 
not  lost  by  military  results,  and  the  attendant  reduction  of 
values  —  and  were  reunited  in  a  common  administration  of 
public  affairs. 

History   written    in    the   progress   or   at   the   termination    of 
a    war,  is  usually  formed  like  the  government  bv  the   victorious 

stances  ate  undeistoud,  anii  the  consequences  tully  examined  into,  will  prove  as 
forcible  is  anything  that  can  l>e  urged  tor  the  former.  It  is  therefore  proposed  that 
a  General  Declaratory  Act  should  be  passed,  putting  the  situation  of  all  those  who 
have  already  removed  from  the  United  States,  and  Settled  in  any  part  of  tiie  British 
Dominions,  beyond  any  future  question  or  doubt,  declaring  that  all  who  were  formerly 
British  Subjeits  in  any  part  of  the  United  States  or  born  of  Parents  who  were 
Briti'-h  Subjects  in  those  States,  previous  to  the  late  Treaty  of  Peace,  shall  on  their 
removal  into  any  part  of  the  British  Dominions  in  America,  either  on  the  Continent, 
or  in  the  West  India  Islands,  and  on  taking  and  subscribing  the  Oath  and  declara- 
tion which  shall  be  acquired  by  them,  shall  be  admitted  to  all  the  rights  and  pri- 
vileges of  free  and  natural  born  subjects  ot  Great  Britain,  provided  that  their  removal, 
and  taking  the  (Jath  be  within  four  years  from  the  passing  such  Act,  provided  also 
that  they  bring  certificates  of  their  having  been  formerly  British  Subjects,  in  the 
United  States  when  Colonies,  or  tiie  Children  of  such  Sutjccts.  The  oaths  to  be 
administered  by  Magistrates  named  tor  that  purpose,  and  recorded  in  the  public 
Records  of  the  province  or  Colony  where  the  same  r'lall  be  taken, 

1st  Observation.  Tliere  will  be  no  objection  to  that  part  of  such  an  Act,  as  refers 
to  the  Declared,  and  actually  removed  Loyalist. 

id  Observation.  In  regard  to  tl'n;  two  second,  no  material  exception  can  be  taken 
to  persims  continuint:.  Non-jurors  are  L.iyalists,  not  yet  removed  within  the  British 
Dominion,  their  not  ifm.-ving  v;;  the  cvjcuation  of  Neiu  Vark  Is  no  O/'iection,  as  loo 
many  ivere  then  under  an  cihsoltite  an  J  pressing  necessity  to  rcMove,  S'j  t/ial  their  re- 
maining, hecame  a  fwvor  to  those  who  did  remove,  and  those  forced  to  submit  to  tht 
Oath  imposed  .•</)•)»;  thtm,  are  to   he  considered  us  beiig    nearly  in  the  same   predicament. 

But  3dly,  if  these  are  admitted,  it  is  hardly  possible  to  prevent  the  last  description  from 
coming  in  under  their  Character,  not  inconsistent  with  that  of  a  Merchant,  a 
Farmer,  a  Shipwright,  a  I'isherman,  or  a  Sailor,  these  orders  of  men  are  immediately 
ivar.ied,  and  in  Great  Numbers,  in  Nova  Scotia  and  Canada,  and  as  those  orders  of 
men  find  themselves  pressed  by  taxes  in  the  United  States  and  their  Commerce  restricted 
as  Aliens  and  Foreigners  by  this  and  other  Nations,  and  burthered  luith  duties  and 
imports  by  their  oivn  Government  they  luill  naturally  incline  to  remove  and  such  an 
encouragement  may  probably  render  Nova  Scotia  and  Canada  populous,  and  rich  in  a 
very  feiu  years. 


in  the  Revolution,  9 

sentiment.     Vae  victis !     It  is  left  to  posterity  in  most  cases  to 
do  justice   to  the   unfortunate. 

In  Painting  and  Cartography,  truth  to  nature,  and  accuracy, 
are  indispensible  to  value.  We  continue  our  appreciation  of 
Old  Masters,  and  admire  and  even  yet  sail  by  the  carefully 
based  and  grandly  executed  Charts  of  the  earlier  centuries  ; 
while  we  also  accept  the  new  school  of  Art,  as  well  as  the 
improved  Maps  which  several  nations,  notably  including  our  own 
vie  in  perfecting.''  Why  should  not  History,  which  records, 
the  action  of  what  is  held  as  nature's  noblest  work,  be 
ranked  as  a  kindred  art  ?  While  it  would  be  the  act  of  a 
vandal  to  alter  an  old  masterpiece,  it  may  be  the  duty  of 
an  humble  painter  to  restore  it,  and  the  right  of  all  Artists  to 
seek  to  improve  upon  it. 

No  careful  cross  reader  has  failed  to  detect  palpable  errors  in 
history,  possibly  injected  in  hasty  compilation,  from  ill  founded 
rumor,  misconception,  or  partisan  zeal,  perhaps  allowed  to 
remain  until  too  late  for  available  cotemporaneous  correction, 
by  the  indifference,  or  individuality,  of  even  a  worthy  actor. 
It  would  seem  as  though  in  all  ages,  men,  while  naturally 
desiring  to  be  recorded  as  famous  in  public  affairs,  or 
in  the  held,  have  permitted  the  notable  achievements  of  their 
assistants  to  be  condensed  in  their  own.  Often  the  resort 
to  Official  Records  lias    corrected  hasty  narrative  and  changed 

*  An  examination  of  the  progress  of  this  science  in  essential  details,  although 
artistic  embellishment  is  less  used  than  formerly,  would  appear  interesting  to  every 
one  connected  with  some  portion  of  the  surface  delineated. 

The  American  "  Geographical  Sciciety,"  only  a  few  years  since  still  a  problematical 
undertaking,  now  grown  into  a  widely  appreciated  and  amply  sustained  fact ;  ha?  largely 
through  the  unremitting  attention  of  its  President,  Chief  Justice  Ualy,  collected  in  its 
Map-room  one  of  the  most  complete  series  ever  formed  by  a  technical  institution 
aft'ording  an  opportunity  to  those  who  would  appreciate  Cartography  to  examine  iti 
claim  to  be  recognized  as  high  Art. 


lO 


Tories  or  Loyalists 


the  complexion  of  what  has  long  been  accepted  as  facts. 
Such  investigations  even  centuries  after,  when  applied  to  the  his- 
tory of  our  late  war,  or  that  we  are  now  making,  will  doubtless 
prove  the  shears  of  Nemesis  and  continue  to  clip  off  a 
surplus  fringe  of  long  seated  error. 

To  aid  in  such   researches  and  to  make  its   illustration  more 
complete,  Old  letters,  Documents  and  Diaries  s  of  public  interest 
have  each   a    use.      Letters  we   oftenest   rely  upon  for   cotem- 
porary    testimony.        Diaries    kept    for    personal    reference    or 
amusement,   even  when   meagre   in  detail,   but  written   without 
the    intention    of  publication,    or   of  influencing   the   views   of 
others,  and   so  possessing  the   value  of  disinterested  testimony 
at  the  period  as    to  events,   persons  and   dates,    have  furnished 
valuable  acquisitions   to  printed  history  for  the  reason  that   they 
were  records    of  personal   impression  only  and    reserved    until 
excitement   had   passed  away.      The  Orderly  Books  or  Diaries 
of  regiments,  have  also  afforded    interesting  details  of  service, 
against   accepted    error   or   conflicting   testimony,  fixing   dates,' 
positions,  the  number  and  description  of  a  force,  and  the  com' 
pass  of  its  movements,  and  when  annotated   by  a  skillful    hand 

STlie  "  History  of  New  York,  in  the  Revolutionary  War."  by  the  able  bur  rvn!.,! 
Judge  Thon>as  Jones  _  published  through  the  liberality  of'one' of    i  "   at    es'  M 
John  D,  Jones,  and  ably  ed.ted  by  another,  Mr.  Edwara  Floyd  de  Lancey    under  the 
ausp.ces    ot   the    New    York   Historical  Society  in  1879.    with  copious  n'^tsnd  re 
feret^ce.,    .s    a  nch    m.ne  to   wh,ch    any   person   interested  in  this   subject,  may  pro- 
fitably turn  trom  th.s  merely   suggestiye  commentary.      The  fierce   imurt  ality  w  th 
wh.ch  he  crmcses  Wn,g  and  Tory,  soldier  and  civilian,  induces  additional   credence 
to  the   many  curious    tacts  he    recorded  in  exile,  of  men  and    events  with    which  he 
wa     am.lur.      A  letter  horn   General   Huntington   to  his  son,  while  occ.pyirg  hi! 
fine  town   house,  east  ot  the   C.ty   Hall,- in  that  collection-expresses  gr,.  i^e  to 
h.m   tor   planting  the  Iruit  he  was  enjoying  at  his  4uarters,   and  its  rine'view  of  the 
harbor       His  country  estate  at  Fort  Neck,  is  preserved  in  the  family  by  an  entail  that 
prevented  conhscation.     This,  even  with  the  letter   books  of  Governor  Cadwallde 
Golden,  pubhshed   by  that  Society,  cross  read   with  Judge  William  Smith's  "Hi 
ory  of  the  Provmce  o     New   York,"    would   in    themselves   afford  an   openin.   ir 

e'roJ^in  tn' dt  '"  "'  "''   '"^  ''"^  '"^''"'  '"""'""^  "^'  '^^'^  •'°^' 


tn  the  Revolution. 


II 


and   published,   have   furnished  the  clew  to  much   information 
otherwise  lost  from  the  woof  of  history. 

Those  who  have  found  entertainment  in  delving  into  the 
controversial  folios  of  partisan  writers,  full  of  what  appeared 
to  them  to  be  truths,  have  realized  how  easily,  and  honestly, 
men  may  differ. 

In  England  in  the  varied  changes  in  the  control  of  a  divided 
people,  by  Charles  I,  or  bv  the  Parliament,  the  Common- 
wealth or  the  Restoration,  those  oi  each  in  turn  had 
the  opportunity  ot  disseminating  such  convictions,  to  approving 
readers,  and  for  posterity  to  consider  and  compare.  As  an 
example  ot  their  utility,  it  was  amon'ist  such  discordant  narra- 
tions—  much  of  which  he  styled  "Shot  Rubbish" — that  Car- 
lyle,  and  others,  have  searched  analogically  for  facts,  and  it  was 
from  such  neglected  authorities  that  he  derived  many  of  the  con- 
clusions, which  give  color  to  his  illustration  of  the  ''Letters  and 
Speeches  of  Oliver  Cromwell,"  probably  destined  to  survive 
those  crude  "  Reminiscences  "  ot  his  own  career,  which  have 
recently  disappointed  his  appreciators.  The  peculiarities  of  his 
inverted  expression,  and  thought  provoking  stvie,  once  com- 
prehended, the  result  of  those  researches  appears  to  present  to 
the  reader,  even  in  a  concentrated  form,  the  man,  his  impulses, 
and  surroundings,  often  overlooked  before  in  the  consideration 
ot  the  narrative  of  his  remarkable  career. 

From  the  mass  of  such  conflicting  testimony,  has  also  been 
in  part  exhun.ed  at  different  periods,  the  material  from  which 
such  accepted  writers  as  Hume,  Smollett,  Gibbon,  Robertson, 
Macauley,  Alison,  Mahon,  and  many  others  less  broadly  known, 
have  erected  with  the  increasing  impartiality  attending  later  in- 
vestigation. Monuments  to  their  country,  creditable  to  the  work- 


12 


Tories  or  Loyalists 


men.  Each,  in  his  way  has  apparently  sought  to  form  safe 
resting  places  for  conviction,  by  substituting  what,  after  careful 
inspection,  appeared  to  possess  the  solidity  of  fact,  for  what  the 
impulse  of  the  hour  had  concreted,  but  tinie,  and  closer  in- 
vestigation, pronounced  unreliable. 

Some  of  such  investigators,  have  been  inipresscd  with  certain 
coincidences  between  that  Great  English  Revolution,  and  our 
own  of   I  -76. 

Arising,  in    each  case  amongst  the  same  race,  firm  in  con- 
viction and  resolute  in  assertion,  inspired   by  similar  complaints 
of  oppression   and  sense  of   right,  resulting    alike    in   divided 
sentiment   as  to     the  proper    extent   of   Prerogative,    and  the 
remedy    against    its   encroachments,  involving   at   first,    heated 
discussion    in    public   assemblies,   filling  the   minds    of    many 
well   meaning    citizens    with   doubt   as    to   a    course    rendered 
difficult  to  fix  upon    by  conflicting  ties  or  interests,  and  finally 
precipitating  in  one  case  the  Mother  Country  and   in  the  other 
her  Colonies,  into  the  horrors  of  Civil   War,  seeming  in  many 
particulars  to  be  but  the  renewal  of  a  suspended  conflict. 

By  the  result  of  both  of  these  domestic  struggles  many  who 
had  in  former  peaceful  times  been  held  as  valuable  citizens,  were 
impoverished  and  driven  into  exile  6  — in  the  former  from  the 

«The  following  is    a   letter  from    John  Cruger,    Esq.,  Mayor  of  New  York  from 
1739  to  1744,  and  from  1757  to  1766,  and  Speaker  of  the  Assembly  of  177c       He 
was    then    a    pnsoner   on    parole   at   the   residence  of  his    brother-in  law    Peter  Van 
Schaack,  the  celebrated  lauyer,  whose  wife  soon  after  died  from  want  of  proper  med 
ical  treatment  in  New  York,  access  to  which  the  regulations  of  war  precluded. 

KiNDERHOOK,  April  12,    1 778. 

dIR   * 

I  have  Rec'd  your  favor  &  am  Extremely  Sorry  that  any  Impediment  has  arisen 
in  the  Way  of  my  going  to  New  York.  When  I  Reed  GenI  G.tes'  pe.mis.ion 
Upon  T'-ndition  ot  my  tngaging  to  fultil  the  Exchange  he  proposed,  I  wrote  him 
1    d  chuse    to    go    Upon    a    condition    which    it    might     be    out    of    my 


tn  the  Revolution, 


13 


varied  successes,  drawn  from  both  of  the  contending  factions  — 
affording  opportunity  to  each  in  turn,  to  develope  the  smaller 
characteristics  of  nature,  in  the  uses  of  success  as  an  opportunity 
for  the  harsh  assertion  of  authority,  in  resorting  to  confiscation, 
exile  and  individual  suffering,  in  the  changes  of  property  as  well 
as  of  place. 

Now,  if  we  can  judge  from  history  and  observation,  both 
Cavalier  and  Roundhead  are  looked  back  upon  by  their  descend- 
ants and  their  successors  with  equal  respect,  and  their  actions 
as  the  result  of  conviction,  with  a  common  pride.  The 
impressions  of  the  past  have  been  more  readily  forgotten,  in  the 
activity  of  the  present  by  a  large  portion  of  a  people,  attached 
like  our  own  to  a  government  which  has  developed,  in  the  ex- 
perience of  past  strife  the  elasticity  of  its  institutions,  and  of  a 
progressive  energy  in  rebounding  after  a  strain,  to  even  a 
stronger  tension. 

One  element  of  its  population,  many  of  the  people  of 
Ireland,  from  circumstances  yet  aJhere  to  their  old  prej- 
udices, and  still  recall    Cromwell's  severity  in  his  invasion,  and 

power  to    i-ertorm.      Upon  wliicl.    lie    wrote   me  as   vour    Exccllenty  Will    Recollect 
from  his  Letter,  that    he  looked    to  Sir  Henry  Clinton  for  the    performance   of  Any 
Engagement  1  should  make,  ^nd  I  have  reason  to  think  from  Wiiat  I  then  and  have 
since  heard  that  thi>  matter  was  settled  between  th<^.e  twu  Generals.      Could    1  have 
foreseen  that  it  was  Possible  that  this  wd  have  been  prt^vented  taking  place    1   bhould 
1  am  sure  have  had   no  ditficuhy  in  Getting  tlie  Gfnls   passport    Upon  whiVh  =everal 
have  gone   down,  Kven    after   h.-   quitted  Albany,  Altho    1   cannot    it   Seems    be   so 
fortunate.         Pcrliap,     upon  Considering    thb    matter,    Youi    l:xcell<>ncy    will    be    of 
opinion  that  Sir  Henry  Clinton  will  perform  wiiat  Ger.l  Gate.  Relied  Upon  him  for 
however  ditfi.lent  your  Excellency  may  be  of  Genl  Jones  Who  is  I  believe  an  Inferio? 
Orticer  to  Sir  Henry  Clinton.      Especially  as  I  shall   then  go  down  Upon   the  Confi- 
dence   between    him  and   Genl  Gates  &  not   upon   any  promise  of  Genl    lones       If 
your  Excellency  still  entertain  doubts,  I  will  be  content  to  go  down  with  one  Servant 
only  (Leaving  my  tamily  and  Etiects, )  upon  Parole  to  return  if  an  Exchange  cannot 
be  Ertected.     i  sincerely  Request  of  Vour  Excellency,  .0  far  as  yuu  consistently  can.  to 
take  my  situation  into  Consideration,  and    I    hope  when  you   Reriect  on    ve  age  and 
Infirmity  of   my  sister  and  Self,  &  the  great  Inconveniency  which  we   Labour  Under 
here.  You  Will  Readily  tall  upon  some  Mean>  to  Extricate  Us  Out  of  our  Difficultvs 


H 


Tories  or  loyalists 


King  William's  success  at  the  Battle  of  the  Boyne,  with  equal 
bitterness.     They  had  never  cheerfully  transferred  their  adhesion 
from  the  house  of  Stewart  to  either  the  Prince  of  Orange  or  that 
of    Hanover.      Many  of  them,  including  those  of  the  bdst  ele- 
ment had  been  driven  by  that  war  and  its  results,  into  France  and 
other  countries,  often  to  become  from  choice  soldiers,  in  many 
cases    still    represented    by    their    descendants,  with   the  same 
courage    which    turned   the  current  of  the  light  at   Fontenoy, 
and  made  the  command  of  the  regiment  Dillon, iong  hereditary. 
Others  came  to  America,  replacing  the   departed  loyalists,  soon 
exceeding  them  in  numbers,  and  rapidly  increasing  as  we  know, 
until  in  many  sections  they  form  a  very  large  element  of  popula- 
tion.     Their  hereditary  prejudices  and  their  natural  tendency  to 
politics,  perhaps  inspired  by  tlie  cor-sideration  of  their  grievances, 
the   apparent  error   of  the  government   in    not   fostering    their 
manulacturies,  industries  and  universal  education,  have  perhaps 
united    to     proJuce    for     generations    political     agitations    and 

Which  1  shall   he  happy  to  RctaliaU!  by  Every  me,in»    in  my  power,  to    procure  the 
Enlargement  of  any  family,  which  may  be  desirous  of  moving  out  of'  New  Vork. 
1  have  the  honour  to  be  With  great  Esteem 

Yr  Ex.  Most  Olied  k 

Very  liumb.  Servt 
His  Ex.  Gov.  Clinton.  Jqhn  Cruger. 

Governor  Clinton's  Answer. 

PoUGHKEEPSIE,   Ap'U    ICj^    I778. 

Sir  : 

I  have  received  your  letter  of"  the  1 2th  Instant  &  in  Answer  thereto,  am  reciuced 
to  the  necessity  of  Informing  you  that  I  canrmt  consent  to  your  going  to  New  York 
in  any  otiier  way  than  that  of'  exchange.  The  conduct  of  Messrs.  Wallace,  Sher- 
brooke  Sc  several  others  who  were  imtulged  to  go  in  on  Parole  &  to  return,  or  send  out 
some  citizens,  in  exchange,  has  rendered  the  like  indulgence  to  others  altogether 
improper.  At  any  rate  the  intercourse  between  the  Country  &  City  will  be  totally 
prohibited  for  some  Weeks  to  come  as  the  Comm  inding  Oiticer,  were  I  ever  so 
willing,  will  not  sufl'er  any  Persons  to  piss  the  Posts  below.  I  shall  be  always  ready 
Sir  to  grant  you  every  Indulgence  consistent  with  the  Duty  of  my  Office. 

I  am  Sir  Your  Most  Obcdt.  Servt, 

John  Cruger,  Es^.  (George  Clin  ton.) 


in  the  Revolution. 


'5 


misunderstandings  at  home,  and  probably  induced  an  immense 
emigration,  who  by  becoming  citizens,  necessarily  separate 
themselves  politically  from  their  country  and  have  in  the  sea- 
board cities  especially,  largely  acquired  that  control  of  which 
they  were  deprived  in  their  old  home,  centuries  ago. 

It  is  a  singular  paradox,  attending  the  gitjantic  prosperity  of 
the  country,  that  while  one  large  class  of  citizens  neglect,  in 
the  excitement  of  business  occupations,  even  the  ordinary  duty 
of  electors,  another  often  abandon  the  opportunities  for  solid 
prosperity  and  wealth,  attracted  by  the  glitter  of  authority  and 
perhaps  ephemeral  salary,  and  in  seeking  office  devote  their 
lives  to  "  politics,"  and  their  advancement  to  the  control  of  its 
dispensers. 

While  the  majority  of  the  people  of  Great  Britain  accepted 
the  House  of  Hanover  cheerfully,  if  coldly,  they  took  no 
interest  in  the  complications  of  the  first  two  sovereigns,  in 
protecting  their  birthplace  a:id  Principality  on  the  continent. 
Its  position  involved  them  in  the  '•  Seven  Years'  War" — without 
eventual  advantage,  and  imposed  upon  them  a  heavy  indebted- 
ness, partially  to  meet  which,  in  the  reign  of  George  III,  the 
attempted  taxation  of  his  American  colonies,  also  its  seat,  was 
resorted  to,  which  afforded  them  their  opportunity. 

The  history  prepared  by  a  conquered  enemy  is  generally 
little  accepted  by  the  victor,  beyond  its  use  in  illustrating  some 
strategic  detail.  Its  statements  of  any  motives,  or  of  rights 
invaded,  or  injustice  done,  would  be  as  indifferently  received  as 
the  argument  of  a  case  after  the  jurv  had  retired  —  a  barren 
effort  which  is  believed  to  have  at  times  affected  intellects. 
That  of  the  English  writers,  as  to  the  Revolutionary  war  has 
rarely  been  generally  accepted  or  studied,  in  search  for  even  minor 
particulars,  by  those  satisfied  with  results.     In  our  own  histories, 


i6 


Tories  or  Loyalists 


while  doing  justice  tc,  the  general  details  of  the  origin  and  pro- 
gress of  the  conflict,  little  attention  was  naturally  given  to  per- 
sonal  conviction,  oi    to  appaient   necessity,  as   influencing   the 
action  of  any  ally  of  the  enemy,  while  resisting  the  success  of 
a   struggle  for   Independence.      Tory    and   Hessian,   h.ve  been 
rated  with  the  Indian,  and  all  considered  the  worst  elements  of 
a    bad   cause,    best    remembered   as   the   perpetrators  of  those 
ravages  of  war,  impressed  more  strongly,  by  tradition  and  early 
history,  upon  the  communities  where  they  occur,  than  any  nobler 
action,  and   therefore  more   likely  to  survive.      That  they  soon 
departed,  leaving  neither  apologist  nor  vindicator,  seems  to  affbrd 
a   sufficient   reason  tor   some    just   consideration  of  their   then 
position,  a  century    later. 

We  have   realized   some   "  modern   instances  "  since,  where 
prejudice    has     u.iduly     obscuted,     or   partiality     unreasonably 
brightened,  the  records  of  the  wrestlers  in  a  world  of  action. 
The   annexation     of    Texas  —   a    Republic   then    recently 
carved  out  of  the   territory  of  a  friendly  power,  while  it  slum- 
bered—may be  recalled  by   some  as   having  presented    a  ques- 
tion of  such  then  apparently  vast  importance,  as  to  have  seemed 
for  a  time  to  shake  the  foundation  of  our  own  government.    Strict 
constructionists  of  law,  and  those  watchful  of  the  integrity  of  our 
avowed  national  policy,  entered  into  vehement  protest  against  an 
act  for  which  they  could  discover  no  authority,  and  its  inevitable 
result,  in  a  war  with  a  weaker  power,  to  acquire  by  force  a  terri- 
tory, then  looked  upon  without  coveting  it,  by  a  largo  porti;)n  of 
the  people.      7^he  debates  in  Congress  on  the  subject,  will  sur- 
vive as  long  as  the  government  they  affected  by  their  results,  as 
characterized   by  marked  ability  and  vehemence,  for  there  were 
surely  rnany  statesmen   in  Congress  at  that  period.      When  the 
war  was  precipitated,  all  differences  were  speedily  buried  and  the 


in  the  Revolution. 


'7 


Maxim    "  Our  Country  Right  or  Wrong,"   silenced  dissent   or 
opposition  and  carried  brave  men  of  both  factions  in  concert  to 
the    field. 7      Many  Americans    residing  in    Mexican    Territory, 
under    such    protection    as    it    could    afford    to   their    property, 
naturally    placed     themselves     under     their      national     colors. 
We  can  conceive  that  if  the  Mexican  forces  had  then  been  able 
to  invade    the  United  States,  the  action  of  her  citizens  residing 
within  their    borders  and  enjoying  their   protection  would    have 
been   a   subject    for  jealous  scrutiny  !     Their   duty  to   the  flag 
under  which   they  were  born,  unless  abandoned   by  a  new  alle- 
giance, could   not   be  questioned,  while  its  exercise  against   the 
government  that  had  protected  them  would  have  been  considered 
as  an  act  of  aggravated  hostility. 

In  our  Civil  War  the  manhood  of  the  country  of  an  avail- 
able  age  largely  buried  political  dissensions,  and  when  the 
question  was  narrowed  to  that  of  the  supremacy  of  the  flag, 
hastened  to  the  front.  When  such  voluntary  material  for 
its  maintenance  seemed  exhausted,  the  additional  inducement 
of  large  bounties  was  added  to  the  customary  pay  to  stimulate 
patriotism,  or  compensate  for  the  time  diverted  from  personal 
enterprise.      It    was    then   noticed   that   the   representation  of 

^  The  anxiety   to   obtain  service   in  this   war,  and  the  enthusiasm  which   attended 
us  progress,  when  once  precipitated    must  be   recalled   by   many.      .More  troops  were 
offered    than  could    be    used,    and    the    Soutne:n    and    Southwestern    Statesf   more 
sect.onally  interested  m  the  acqui^ition  oK  new  lerritory,  continually  pressed  the  otH-r 
of  additional  regiments.     Those  of  New  Yoric,  which  succeeded  in  obtaining  orders 
did    good    service    in    Mexico   and    California,  while   olhers    offered    could    find    no 
place.      The  contributor    recalls    how,  although    opposed    to    the     annexation    from 
surrounding  association,  and  scarcely  qu.htied  by  age  as  an   elector,  happening  to  be 
for  the  second  time,  aid  decamp  to  a  notable  Governor  of  the  old  school,  and  thus  a 
Colonel  on  the  Peace   hstabliJiment,  inspired   by  the  sentiment  of  the  mom-nt    he 
committed   that   operation   so    painful   to  all    soldiers,  actual   or   implied,  waiv'ed 'his 
rank  and  raised  a  company,  in  a  regiment  which  was  so  denied  the  privilege  of  fameor 
the  possibility  of  failure.     The  ertbrt   was  an  effect  of  the  electricity  witn  which  all 
were  charged,   impressing  even  a  titular  soldier   with  the  value  of  his  sword,  rather 
than  of  his  rank.  ' 


i8 


Tories  or  Loyalists 


other  nationalities    in    our    ranks   was  largely   increased.       In 
the  rising  of  a  government  in  its  force  to  preserve  its  existence, 
the    way    was   necessarily   subordinated   to    the  means,    and  all 
were  acceptable.      Even  the  Chinese,    valueless  as   an   elector, 
would  have   been   wtlcome  in  the  hour  of  danger,   to  fight   for 
a  nationality  open  to  all  others,  as  the  home  of  liberty.      It  was 
noticeable  also,  that  when    hostilities  finally  ensued,  many  who 
had    long   excited    by  tlieir   persistent   eloquence   the   people  of 
both  sections  to  seek  for.  to  cherish,  if  not  to  magnify  differences, 
until    a   perhaps    inevitable   conflict    was    precipitated,   did    not 
crowd  into  the  ranks,  or  if  in  Congress,  all  follow  the  example 
of  that  gallant  Senator,  Edward  D.  Baker,  a  proto-martyr  of  that 
body  in  the  conflict,  who  falling    at    the   head    of  his  regiment 
at    Balls    Bluff,    while    practically    advancing  his    plea   for    the 
Union,  made  a  more  lasting  impression    than    words    addressed 
to  applauding  galleries,  by  men  of  either  section  fired   by    zeal, 
who  failed   to  afterwards  emphasize  the  depth  of  their  convic- 
tions, by  service  in  the  field. 

Those  who  did  this  followed  an  old  precedent,  established 
by  members  of  both  houses  of  Parliament  in  the  English  Civil 
War,  where,  as  an  example,  Lucius  Cary,  Viscount  Falkland^ 

a  Cl.iien,1on  in  his  "History  of  the  Great  Rebellion  "  thus  reco'-Js  the  virtues  of 
one  who  might  have  been  an  agreeable  and  instructive  associate,  "he  w.is  a  nerson  oi 
such  prodigious  parts  of  learning  and  knowledge,  and  of  that  inimitable  sweetness 
and  delight  in  conversation,  and  of  so  Howing  and  obliging  a  humanity  and  goodness 
to  mankind,  and  of  that  primitive  simplicity  and  integrity  of  life,  that  if  there  were 
no  other  brand  upon  the  odious  and  accursed  Civil  War  than  that  single  loss  it 
must  be  most  infamous  to  ail  posterity,"  He  was  deeply  depressed  by  the  comp'ass 
which  he  foresaw  in  the  conflict,  frequently  cried  to  himself  "  Peace,  Peace  "  and 
doubting  its  speedy  coming;  having  accompanied  the  King  at  Edgebill,  Oxford  and 
Gloucester,  being  his  Secretary  of  State,  he  threw  himself  as  a  volunteer  into  the 
front  rank  of  Lord  Byron's  regiment,  at  the  battle  of  Newberry,  and  was  killed  by 
a  musket  ball.  ' 

"  Thus    Falkland    died  the   generous   and    the   just,"   at  least  another  rnartyr  to 
honest  convictions. 


ifi  the  Revolution, 


»9 


a  conscientious  patriot,  and  one  of  the  first  to  rise  in  Parliament 
in  opposition  to  j;rievance>,  wa.s  also  one  of  the  earliest  to  vol- 
untarily tlie  in  ilefence  of  his  sovereign,  when  he  considered 
that  the  claims  for  rediess  were  pressed  too  tar.  Many  members 
ot  our  Continental  Congiess  also  displayeil  by  their  service  itl 
the  field,  their  conviction  that  a  statesman  whether  involuntary, 
hereditary  or  professional,  does  not  lessen  his  official  dignity, 
by  contact  in  tlie  ranks  even  with  those  who  had  not  sympa- 
thized  ill  the  discussion^  until  forced  into  the  conflict  by  results. 

Gallant  service  in  both  the  council  and  the  Held  would  appear 
to  be  unanswerable  evidences  of  at  least  honest  convictions.^ 

The  Trumpeter,  in  another  fable,  would  appear  to  have  been 
properly  denied  immunity,  as  a  non-combatant,  for  the  reason 
that   he   incited  bloodshed   by  his   noisy  brass.      It    had   already 

9  An  example  of  this  disintenstcd  apprcuatiim  of'  a  .louhlc  .iuts,  may  be  cited  in 
Lewis  Morris,  a  Signer  ot  the  Declaration  ot  Independence,  a  member  ot  Congress 
grandson  ot  a  Colonial  GoviTnor  of  New  Jersey,  in  his  turn  the  son  of  an  iinglish 
othcer  ot  Cromwell's  army,  who  had  made  America  his  refuge  at  the  Restoration  — 
the  proprietor  of  a  Manor  of  some  thousands  of  acres  called  Morrisania,  in  West- 
chester, New  York,  and  an  honored  citizen,  who,  although  like  the  Jolmson^  ,  with 
much  to  lose  personally,  for  the  prospect  of  a  gain  by  a  change  of  government,  threw 
his  tortunes  into  an  opposite  scale.  His  love  to  freeilom, probably  hereditary,  earlv  carried 
him  into  public  life,  and  with  his  beautiful  home  desolated,  his  family  scattered,  his 
thousand  ot  acres  of  woodland  felled  and  the  British  ships  lying  within  cannon  shot 
ot  his  mansion,  he  was,  at  the  time  this  letter  was  written,  sitting  in  Congress  and 
commanding  a  disaffected  Hrigade,  in  the  southern  part  of  Westchester  County,  the 
most  disloyal   portion  of  a  Tors    State,      It  is  taken  from  tiie  original  ; 


.Sir  : 


'hij  ADKi  I'lii.A,  Seplemhf,   2^^   1776. 


1  had  tii(-  honor  to  receive  your  Letter  accompanying  the  Resolve  of  Congress  re- 
lative to  my  return  to  resume  the  command  of  my  Brli;ade,  at  a  time  when  the 
State  to  which  I  belong  is  invaded,  and  particularly  as  I  am  honored  with  a  military 
command,  1  esteem  it  my  duty  to  account  for  my  absence.  Since  my  arrival  at 
Philadelphia,  the  State  of  New  Vork  has  liad  110  more  than  a  representative  in 
Congress,  and  as  the  Gentlemen  of  the  Committee  of  Indian  Atiairs  were  mostly  out 
of  Town,  the  whole  of  that  necessary  business  has  been  devolved  upon  me.  My 
/iinii/y    ha-vf  Ixeii    ohlig^eJ  to  desert    their    home,  and   meeting    with    them  in    thii  plaa. 


20 


Tories  or  Loyalists 


been  discovered,  that   it  was   easier  to  excite   than  to  allav  a 
conflict,  and  that  only  the  peacemaker  xvas  blessed. 

There  is  a  middle  course,  which  caution  has  often  suggested 
to  personal  interest,  in  the  consideration  ot  all  untried  enter- 
prises ;  that  of  uniting  with  neither  party,  while  coquetting  with, 
and  appearing  to  entertain,  the  views  of  both.  From  any  im- 
putation or  such  littleness,  at  least.  Johnson  and  his  Tory 
associates  would  appear  to  have  been  free,  as  the  evidence  of 
their  offence  was  in  their  undisguised  cooperation. 

When  the  French  flc-et,  with  Rochamheau's  army,  was 
groping  its  way  in  search  of  Newport  and  towards  Yorktown, 
on  the  loth  of  July,  1780,  through  Martha's  Vineyard,  and  the' 
fogs  which  yatchsmeii  so  often  deplore,  an  islander  hoarded  the 
Conc|uerant,  74  — conveying  Generals  the  Haron  de  Viomenel, 
Count   de  Custine,  who  soon  after  led   the  advanced   troops   to 

unul  I  u.uld/,x  ihc,n,n  ,omc  ,„uatu,„  u'herc  ,hfs  <  <.uld  be  accomnwdand.  This  distress 
of  my  ann  y  „n  tins  occa.i.,n  n,a.).  it  mv  particular  duty  to  attend  to  th.n,,  and 
whuh  I  ri.tter  myself  will  be  justifiable  u,-.,„  every  prindpl.  of  justice.  Tl,e  oiiuation 
Of  my  Br.gade  ^.as  convinced  was  well  known  to  the  Convention,  I  apnrei.endej 
that  not  more  than  a  Colonel's  command  was  left  in  it,  and  .s  such  d,d  nut  tliink  mv 
presence  was  so  absolutely  necessary.  I  have  thought  that  the  existence  ,.f  such  a 
Brigade,  ,n  which  were  so  many  disaffected  persons,  was  dan^.erous  to  the  cau.e  as 
we  as  to  my  own  life.  Hut  being  de.irous  to  participate  in  the  virtuous  opposition 
to  he  Brush  lyrant.  I  had  determined  as  soon  as  possible  to  join  Gen.  Washington 
and  contribute  my  assistance  to  him,  prompted  in  the  first  instance  bv  a  L..ve  of  my 
Country,  and  in  the  next  place  the  preservation  of  my  property,  being  thoroughly 
convinced  that  unless  we  conquer  I  am  ruined.  However  in  obedience  to  the 
command  Of  Convention  I  shall  prepare  with  all  possible  expedition  to  set  out  for 
Westchester,  and  will  endeavor  to  execute  any  orders  they  may  be  pleased  to  eive  to 
the  utmost  of  my  ability.  fa        '" 

Ser^vanr*"    ''"    '"'""'   '"  ""'^^"''''^   "'ys-^^'f".  Sir,   Your    obliged    and  Obed't    Humble 
IT    .'k     L>      -J  .■,....  Lewis  Morris. 

(lo  the  President  of   the  Provincial  Congress  of  New  York). 

lie  afterwards  returned  to  service,  was  a  Major  General  and  had,  as  his  fellow 
officers,  three  of  his  sons.  Of  his  own  brothers,  Staats  Long  continued  in  the 
British  service,  became  a  Lieutenant  General.  Richard  was  a  lujge  of  Admiralty, 
and  Gouverneur  the  well  esteemed  Diplomatist  and  Congressman. 


I 


in  the  Revolution, 


21 


the  Pi'iiiiisula  and  performed  valuable  service  there,  and  many 
officers  and  men  of  those  auxilliaries  —and  who  was  usetui  as 
a  pilot  bringing  valuable  information,  as  to  thi-  Americans 
still  holding  Rhode  Island,'"  "he  was  a  good  man  "  —  says  the 
Chief  Commissary  who  was  dailv  bottling  up  facts  for  our  later 
refreshment  — ''and  dhplayed  intelligence:  He  was  neither  a 
Royalist,  'jy  Insurgent,  but  a  friend  of  everybody,  as  he  told  us  with 
much  simplicity:-  As  tlic  arrival  of  this  expected  assistance 
was  an  occasion  for  the  expression  of  pleasure,  and  as  the  stru<iglc 
it  was  coming  to  aid  in  terminating  had  long  given  opportunity 
for  the  turmation  or  an  opinion,  it  seems  clear  that  he  was  a 
Loyalist,  and  yet  m  a  condition  to  avail  himself  oi  the  rapidly 
approaching  success,  with  all  the  privileges  of  a  patriot. 

But  courage  based  upon  even  erroneous  conviction  may  claim 
respect.  A  generous  opponent  after  success  in  defeating  an 
object  which  from  principle  he  has  opposed,  is  often  the  earliest 
reconciled,  and  a  heart  conscious  of  the  dutv  of  loyalty,  most 
open  to  forgive  an  honest  but  mistaken  conception. 

Thus,  in  later  years,  after  time  for  comparison  of  events  and 
reflection,  such  appreciation  has  even  extended  over  the  seas  to 
the  adherents  of  the  Pretender,  who  lost  their  lives  and  estates 
in  a  hopeless  effort  to  restore  the  unfortunate  house  of  Stuart, 
to  whom  their  fathers  owed  allegiance  ;  when  realizing  how  that 
history  has  also  in  a  wav  repeated  itself  in  our  own  land,  largely 
colonized  by  the  exiles  of  both  parties  in  England's  civil  wars, 
and    how  a    similar   sentiment  inspired   man\    g„od   men,   mis- 

^^^yournal„tCl,uuie  m.mch.nd,  .Hiit.d  by  Wn,.   Uu.nr  an-i  rh„..   Malch,  Albany, 

During  the  season  of  .S8.,  they  were  ,aici  by  the  Hurt  orticuls  to  be  more  con 
tinuous  than  for  Mxteen  years,  and  the  whole  eastern  and  the  north-eastern  coast 
re    .   ided  w.th  the  music  ol  the  tog  horn,  with  little  visible  to  the  cruisers'  eye 


i 


!'(]r 


22 


Tories  or  Loyalists 


takcnly   as  the    result  proved,  to   endeavor  to  sustain  the   exist- 
ing government ;   and  some  incidentally  to  follow  or  imitate  such 
a  leader  as  Sir  John  Johnson,  in  his  effort  to  reclaim  his  inherit- 
ance by  the  same  force  that  had  been  used  in  his  eviction.      His 
Scotch,  Irish  and  German  tenantry  and  his  Indian  allies,  whose 
memory  ..as  come  down  to  us'as  terrible  as  that  of"  the  "  Black 
Douglas  "  with  which  babies  of  the  Border  were  once  hushed  to 
sleep,  were  the  same  appliances  long  turned   by  his  predecessor 
with  general   approval    against  the    French.      The    barbarities 
attending    his  expedition,    if  greater   than  those  recorded    in  all 
that  partisan  warfare,  may,  at  this  distance  of  time,  be  attributed 
to   the   bittrr  sentiment    of  divided    neighborhood   and   broken 
friendship,  the  retaliation  of  the  exile  against  him  who  retained 
or  had  acquired  his  home. 

In  our  recent  struggle  we  learned  again  that  many  oreign 
soldiers  voluntarily  came  as  has  been  stated,  and  accepted  service 
on  either  side,  tor  glory  or  fur  pay,  ind,ff..rent  to  the  cause;  and 
also  that  old  neighbors  were  often  the  fiercest  opponents  when 
meeting  in  strife. 

If,  in  the  light  of  that  experience,  there  was  one  whose 
adhesion  to  the  British  Government  in  1776  appears  most 
readily  accounted  for,  it  would  seem  to  be  that  of  Sir  John 
Johnson.  His  position  as  an  officer  in  his  King's  service 
made  it  natural  to  a  soldier;  the  personal  honor  of  knight- 
hood from  the  King's  hand  while  in  London,  must  have 
influenced  his  sympathy,  aside  from  the  hereditary  sense  of 
gratitude  for  the  great  bounties  and  trust  conferred  on  his 
father. 

That  father  dying  in  1774  escaped  the  responsibility   which 
fell  upon   his  son.      It  is  unnecessary  to  fully  recall  the   career 


in  the  Revolution.  23 

of  Sir  William  Johnson  who  was  probably  the  most  remarkable, 
if  not  the  most  distinguished,  character  in  American  colonial 
history. 

His  coming  as  a  youth  horn  Ireland  into  the  then  wild 
Mc.hawk  valley  as  the  agent  of  his  uncle.  Admiral  Sir  Peter 
Warren,  whose  "great  and  veteran  service"  to  this  State,  was 
rewarded  in  part  with  the  means  to  secure  an  estate  of  15,000 
acres  named  "  Warren's  Bush  "  and  afterwards  by  the  gift  from 
the  city  of  New  York  of  a  suburban  estate— called  Chelsea,  and 
now  embedded  in  its  limits — especially  for  his  service  in  the 
capture  of  Louisburg  ;"  his  succession  from  a  pioneer  planter 
and  country  store  keeper  to  the  control  of  the  Six  Nations  of 
Indians,  once  the  most  powerful  race  on  the  Northern  Amer- 
ican Continent,  who  were  likened  to  the  Romans  from  the 
extent  of  their  invasions  from  their  northern  home,  west  to  the 
falls  of  the  Ohio,  and  south  to  the  waters  of  Carolina, 

"  The  capture  of  Louisliurg,  the  key  to  Cinada,  skillfully  fortiried  by  a  pupil  of 
Vaui.an,  t'arnsoned  by  ret;ular  Kiench  troops,  and  aUo  protfcted  by  vt-s^ds  of  war 
by  6,000  Provincials,  commanded  by  "  Mr.  Fepperei  a  trader  ot  F  scataqua,"  as  colonel 
of  the  largest  regiment,  was  a  subject  of  world  wide  wonder  at  the  time,  and 
may  still  be  conside;ed  as  one  of  the  great  military  achievements  on  this  continent. 
Its  conception  was  due  to  the  indefatigable  Governor  Shirley. 

The  Following  Commission  given  by  Governor  Shirley,  when  comtr.inding  all 
the  Forces  in  North  Arrerica,  and  signed  by  Lord  Stirling,  then  Mr.  Alexander,  a 
young  gentleman  of  fortune,  when  acquiring;  as  an  amateur  the  military  knowledge 
which  he  supplemented  by  his  g.llantrv,  at  the  Battle  of  Long  hland  and  in  other 
service,  shows  the  formality  with  which  Indians  were  regularly  commissioned,  and 
educated  in  the  warfare  then  waging  against  the  French,  subsequently  turned  against 
the  Colon'Sts  whom  they  were  then  protecting.  While  the  uie  of  the  Indians  was 
complained  ot  by  civilized  opponents  in  both  cases,  their  employment  had  become 
habitual. 


By  His  Excellency,  Major  General  Shirley,  Commanoer-in  Chiek  or  all 
HIS   Majesty's   Forces   in    North   America, 

To    Tiiwenoe,  Greeting  : 

By  Virtue  of  the  Power  and  Authority  to  me  Granted  by  His  Majesty  and  reposing 
especial  Trust  and  Cnri  lence  in  your  Fuit/ifulness,  Attachment  und  Loyalty  to  Hit 
most  sacred  Majesty,  King  George  the  Second.     I  do  appoint  you,  the  said  Tawenoe 


2+ 


To 


"ories  or  Loyalists 


They  might  then  become  the  balance  of  power  between  the 
Engl.h  and  Prench  colonies,  and  are  now,  from  the  loss  of  such 
c.v,l,z,ng  authority  mainly  extinct,  enjoying  in  happier  hunt- 
.ng  gmunds,  freedom  from  the  inevitable  progress  of  the  white 
man,  before  which  they  steadily  pass  awav,  making  room  for 
advancmg  cultivation. 

Soon,  his  acquisition  „t  military  and  civil  power,  of  influence 
and  estate,  until  he   had   become  a  viceroy  in  authority,  with  a 
prmcely  personal  domain,  showed  a  -apid  appreciation  of  his  new 
surroundmgs.      His   in.imate  knowledge  of  the  character  of  the 
Indians,    h,s  Justice  and  wisdon.  in  their  control,  their  devotion 
to  h,m,  and   h.s  adaptation  to  their  customs  and  language  ;   his 
defence  of  the  French   border    and   his    expeditions    into    their 
domm.ons.  until  dying  a  Baronet,  a  Major  General,  and    Super- 
•ntendent  of  Indian  aftau  s,  are  matters  that  should  be  familiar  to 
every  reader. 

His  home,  -Johnson  Hall."  was  the  theatre  of  much 
romantic  incident  connected  with  colonial  history,  and  visited 
at     intervals    U     most     o\     the     distinguished     men     on     the 

Given   un.l.-r  mv  rW:in,i  an.)    Seal   ar    Arni«    it  the    r,^      -""rcsaid. 

Ontario,  the  rirstdav  Of  September,  ,7,:         '  ""    ^'""^    ''    "^^2"'    ""  ^^'l^^ 
Bv  His  Excellency's  Command,  ^-   ^^""*"-v. 

Wm.  Alexander,  .SVc'v.' 

Sh-  WiUian,  Pcpperel  died  .  baronet,  and  his  successor  living  to   be   de,„;^ed     his 
and  N™  J„se,    .„v,„,„|,,  w|,id,  .,lde,l  ,„  „|k.v.  ,],e  „l„,„  ,„Ji  "    Ge,  Br'd 


in  the  Revolution, 


25 


continent.  Their  letters  addressed  to  him  on  various  affairs  of 
state,  with  replies  showing  condensation  of  varied  intelligence, 
conveyed  in  the  graceful  penmanship  of  a  ready  writer,  are  still 
preserved  —  some  in  the  collection  referred  to— attesting  a  life 
of  labor  in  the  public  service. 

In  this  however,  he  found  opportunity  to  attend  to  many 
personal  duties,  incident  to  his  position  and  capacity.  Isolated, 
and  only  restricted  by  the  orders  oi'  the  Government,  which 
from  better  local  appreciation  of  necessities,  he  alone,  as  its 
agent,  had  ventured  to  disregard;  with  an  increasing  neighbor- 
hood of  many  nationalities,  English,  Scotch,  Irish,  German 
and  Hollander,  as  compatriots  or  tenantry,  appealing  to  him 
for  counsel  in  every  relation  of  life,  horn  the  cradle  to  the 
grave,  he  advised  and  protected  the  living,  and  was  burthened 
with  trusts  by  the  dead,"^  cheerfully  fulHlling  his  duties  to  the 
lowly  as  a  bountiful  benefactor,  and  hospitably  entertaining  them 
with  the  great,  who  resorted  to  the  hall,  when  amusing  their 
leisure  time  with  hardy  sports  and  athletic  games.  He  appears 
to  have  afforded  an  exaniple  to  those  clarged  with  the  control 
of  the  destinies  of  aggregates  of  men. 

'=  Tlie  accompanying  document  appears  worthy  ot'  reproduction,  as  a  pen  sketch 
attordlng  a  glimpse  o\  this  early  hackwoods  lit'e.  As  rough  in  autographic  execution 
as  its  surroundings,  it  chances  to  place  on  one  paper  the  names,  and  to  show  the  meet- 
ing, of  some  historical  celebrities  of  border  lite,  friends  soon  to  be  divided  in  strife. 
The  two  Johnsons,  General  Nicholas  "llercknier,"  as  he  boldly  but  roughly  writes 
himself",— in  the  year  in  which  he  was  erecting  the  spacious  brick  mansion  called  his 
'■Castle",  which  survives  him  near  Little  Falls,—  destined  afterwards  to  sit  on  the 
saddle  ot  his  dead  horse,  reclining  against  a  tree,  smoking  his  pipe,  and  issuing  his 
orders,  when  mortally  wounded  in  the  battle  ot  Oriskany,  by  the  Tories  and  Indians 
of  St.  Leger  and  Sir  John.  Colonel  teeter  Schuyler,  for  a  time  acting  as  Colonial 
Governor  of  New  Yo.  k,  called  "  j^uider"  by  the  Mohawks,  whom  he  had  led 
successfully  against  the  French,  and  whom  they  trusted  and  loved,  and  Abraham 
Yates,  Jun.,  subsequently  an  early  Senator,  both  of  the  last  at  timer  Mayors  of  the 
important  border  city  of  Albany.  With  these  are  others,  not  unknovvn  in  that 
local  history,  although  making  as  feeble  impiession  on  their  times  as  on  the  paper, 
yet  as  necessary  as  are  the  minor  connecting  links  in  Genealogy. 


26 


Tories  or  Loyalists 


He  devoted  much  attention  also,  to  the  erection  of 
churches  and  schools— even  selecting  with  his  intimate  knowl- 
edge of  the  Mohawk  dialect,  the  hymns  to  be  sung— and  to  the 
education  '3  and  spiritual  welfare  of  his  savage  neighbors,  in  his 
relations  with  whom  there  was  much  to  recall  the  habits  of  the 
Patriarchs,  and  to  account  for  this  special  interest  in  their 
progress  which  was  probi-biy  remembered  in  the  fidelity  of  four 
of  the  tribes,  the  Onondagas,  Cayugas,  Senecas  and  Mohawks, 
to  his  son,  while  thr  Oneidas  alone  supported  the  Americans, 
after  vigorous  efforts  had  ht-en  made  to  secure  them  all. 

One  of  the  latest  objects  of  his  attention  was  the  publication 
of  a  new  edition  of  the''  Book  of  Common  Prayer,"  to  supply 
the  place  of  the  "  Mohawk  Prayer  Book  "  printed   in  1715,  on 

•'  Fro,,,  Rev.  hlea/,r  Wh«:luck,  tou„ac,  .,n.l  President  of  Dartnu.uth  College 
and  yel.hrdted  tor  h,s  succes,.  :u.d  u.-rrulness  in  his  extendt-d  labors  to  educate  and 
civilize  til,-  Indian^.      Anr.ongst  his  pupils  was   Joseph  Kranr. 

DakpMoUIH     CoLI.KGE,    in    NkW    H.^M1•^HIRK,    V,lh.    27,    177., 

Hon.  SiK  :  ^' 

Thi-  l„..,r,.,s,  lia.teei,  ind  Lewi..  In.lians  of  rhe  Tribe  of  Lorett,  Jiave  been  several 
months  at  my  school,  and  l,av^  rrom  the  rir.t  appealed  to  have  an  uncommon  thirst 
tor  I-e.irning  have  been  dilit-ent  at  their  studies  and  have  made  good  Proficiency  fo,- 
the  lime  therein.  They  appear  to  be  rational,  manly,  spirited,  courteous,  graceful 
and  obhgmy  tar  beyond  what  1  have  found  common  to  Indians  and  1  have  ob-rved 
no  undue  appetite  in  them  for  Strong  Drink.  They  have  often  expressed  a  desire  to 
see  your  Honor  since  they  have  lived  with  me,  and  now  at  their  Desire  I  have  con- 
sented to  their  making  ynu  this  Visit 

1  esteem  them  the  most  promising  young  Indians  1  have  ever  .-een,  and  the  most 
likely  to  answer  the  great  and  good  ends  of  an  Education,  and  \  hope  their  roine 
among  their  brethren  in  your  parts  will  have  no  bad  intluena-  to  prediudice  or 
dLstemper  their  minds.  I  haveadvised  them  to  return  as  soon  as  thev  can  atier  they  have 
suitably  expressed  their  duty  and  respect  to  you,  as  I  should  be  sorrv  thev^f,  uld  lose 
more  time  trom  their  Studies  than  shall  be  needful  and  also  as  they  will'  likely  have 
occasion  to  take  several  other  Journeys  soon  after  their  return.  1  wish  vour  Honor 
the  Divine  Presence,  Direct.n.a  and  Blessing  in  the  important  Business  Providence  has 
assigned  you  in  Lite  and  beg  leave  to  assure  vou  that  1  am  with  much  l>teeni  and 
Respect, 

Vour  Honor's  most  obedient  and  very  humble  servant, 

^.       ,„  ,    ,  „  ElKAZER    Whkki.ock. 

sir    wm.  Johnson,  Baronet. 


'  /,,'  //  ////f////   ''/(>////. U>/lBnn 


fr/f'i/ctf 


m  the  Revolution, 


2" 


Bradford's  celebrated  Press,  even  then  unobtainable  and  now  of 
great  value  as  one  of  the  rarest  of  American  books. 

Although  his  treaties  with  them  showed  the  concession  of 
great  grants  of  unoccupied  territory  to  the  Kind's  domain,  he 
protected  them  in  their  occupancies  and  reserved  rights  with 
a  jealous  care,  which  would  afford  a  model  for  later  ''  Indian 
Agencies."  He  carried  into  effect  the  policy  which  Governor 
Dongan  had  foreshadowed,  of  keeping  the  control  of  the  Indians 
on  British  soil  and  protecting  them  from  the  zealous  Missionary 
efforts  of  their  French  neighbors,  to  consolidate  them  with 
their  own  tribes. 

Like  Lord   Chatham,  he  died  in   harness,    devoting    his   last 
hours  to  duty.      The    progress  of  prospecting  for  locations  on 
Indian    lands    was    already  active  in    1774.      Capt.in  Michael 
Cresap  and  Mr.  Greathead,    had   by  attendant    ravages   in   the 
valley  of  the  Ohio,  on    lands  protected  by  Treaty  obhgations, 
aroused    Logan    and    other   chiefs,  friendly   to   the  whites.      It 
was  the  old  story,  with  which  we  have  been  familiar  from  youth 
being    repeated.       The    entire    Indian    race    on    the    continent 
sympathized,   the    Six   Nations   were  j^eparing  to   take   arms, 
even   Johnson    trembled   at    the    prospect.       He   invited    them' 
to  a  Great    Council,  and  appealed    to   their   old    relations   as   a 
guarantee  tor  justice.      Sick,  when  he  entered  the    council     he 
vehemently  addressed  then,,  as  was  his  custom,  and  died  before 
the   session    was   completed— on    the   eleventh  of  July,  1774, 
in  his  sixtieth  year  ;    but  his  parting  words   carried  thei/  lonted 
inriuence,  and  peace  was  preserved. 

He  combined  some  of  the  characteristics  of  Nestor  with 
those  of  Ulysses,  and  surely  presents  in  his  administration  of  his 
public  trust  and  mainly  in  his  private  life,  an  example  to  those 


iv-*- 


28 


Tories  or  Loyalists 


charged  with  large  duties  and  responsibilities.  In  the  plentitude 
of"  his  evidences  of  his  master's  favor  and  the  pressing  variety 
of  his  occupations,  it  is  doubtful  whether  in  the  growing  disfavor 
for  the  taxes  on  stamps  or  tea,  he  found  time  even  to  consider 
the  reasons  for  a  change  of  government,  or  felt  that  a  seat  in 
Parliament  would  have  increased  his  own  importance  or  rep- 
resentative control.''' 

It  IS  no  reflection  upon  the  purity  ot  the  motives,  or  the 
wisdom  of  the  action  of  the  fathers  of  our  country  that  such 
cases  of  those  thus  personally  impressed  with  other  views,  should 
have  existed,  but  it  is  merely  another  instance  of  the  sometimes 
honest  diversity  of  opinion  and  policy  which  has  made  the 
world  a  battle  field. 

It  may  be  assumed  that  then  as  now,  men  were  governed 
by  individuality  and  subordinated  all  to  the  duty  of  loyalty, 
combined  in  such  cases  with  a  sense  of  interest  ;  and  one  can 
easily  see  how  possessing  all  they  could  hope  for,  both  father 
and  son  struggled  to  retain  it,  as  would  now  the  holder  of  a 
similar  valuable  estate,  franchise,  or  monopoly,  against  legislative 
absorbtion,  opposing  opinion,  or  even  suggested  amendment. 

We  see,  even  in  the  peaceful  walks  of  life,  one  man  of  other- 
wise noble  character,  loose  self  control  in  asserting  a  grievance 
or  supporting  a  right  against  another,  where  both  are  honest, 
and  one,  inevitably  wrong.  Such  material,  when  aggregated 
even  for  social  purposes,  will  at  times  divide  in  sentiment,  and 
struggle  in  a  ballot,  to  decide  what  is  humane  or  right  or  what 
is  regular,  and  by  the  vote  of  the  majority,  produce  a  result 
in  suppressing  without  altering  a  deeply  seated  conviction. 

'4  It  does  not  appear  that  he  ever  revisited  England,  as  was  asserted,  but  it  may  be 

recalled  that  he  w.is  the  first  white  man  —  borne  bs  the  Indians  on  a   litter who 

resorted  to  the  "  Saratoga  Springs"  for  medicinal  relief. 


in  the  Revolution. 


29 


Such  difFerences  are  apparently  but  miniature  representations 
of  the  elements  aggregated  in  civil  war.  A  reference  to  a  disin- 
terested party  has  of>en  remedied  the  one  as  a  mediation  may 
avoid  the  other. 

John  Bright,  that  life  long  advocate  of  peace,  who  has  lived 
through  many  wars,  has  recently  presented  a  remedy  against 
their  recurrence.  "  The  policy  and  aspect  of  our  country 
and  of  the  world  will  be  changed,  if  the  demon  war  is  confined 
to  the  eases  in  which  there  seems  to  Christian  and  rational 
men  no  escape  from  the  miseries  it  inflicts  on  mankind." 
This  seems  a  glittering  generalitv  only,  until  it  can  be  dis- 
covered how  the  passion  and  perhaps  the  ignorance  by  which  it 
is  generally  incited  can  be  induced  —  best  before  anv  use  of 
violence— to  submit  to  such  proper  arbitration,  and  then  ivho 
would  be  admitted  to  be  'National  men"  bv  anv  usual  method 
of  selection. 

At  least  the  position  of  those  who  sustained  the  existing  govern- 
ment at  the  Revolution  would  not  appear  to  have  been  open  to 
any  such  solution.  A  large  body  of  the  people  had  finally 
settled  upon  a  new  form,  to  which  all  must  submit,  without 
reference  to  former  complication,  interest,  or  ties.  There  was 
no  intermediate  course,  nor  opportunitv  tu  temporize,  espe- 
cially for  one  prominent  from  position. 

Tiie  ••  Torv  "  then  fought  for  his  sovereign  and  the  existing 
laws,  often  after  years  of  resistance  to  their  exactions  in  every 
appeal  but  that  of  arms,  as  distasteful  then  as  now.  The  con- 
servative element  had  favored  to  the  last,  endurance  to  con- 
test,  of  which  property  and  business  were  to  bear  the  cost. 
Many,  even  of  the  leading  patriots  of  the  Revolution  during  its' 
progress  gave  their  testimony,  that  they  did  not  at  its  outset  con- 
template  separation,  but  only   to  urge  concession  by  the  threat 


30 


Tories  or  Loyalists 


supported  by  force  ;   some  of  them  favored  mutual   conciliation 
to  the  end,  most  prayed  for  peace. 

We  have  been  educated  to  consider  the  action  of  those  who 
were  satisfied  with  the  existing  government  in  1776,  as  well  as 
that  of  those  who  had   realized  and   sought  for   peaceful  redress 

from  grievances,and  when  they  culminated  in  war  adhered  to  their 
old  flag,   indiscriminately,  as    absolutely   indefensible;   to  apply 
to  all  of  them  the  epithet  "Tory,"  as  equivalent  to  -Traitor," 
and  to  forget  that  the  even  worse  detested  "  Hessian  "  was  only 
an  involuntary    German  soldier  in   jackboots  and    bearde<!,,    hen 
unusual   in  America,  whose  sword  was  again  sold   under   treaty 
obligations,  by  his  Hereditary  Prince  to  a  kinsman,  King  George 
in,  in    that  war.      We  have  not  cared  to  recc-gnize  his  hostility 
to  us  as  compulsory,  his  presence  that  of  the  involuntary  victim 
ot  an  obnoxious  custom  in   the  old  World,  and  that   he  was  of 
the   same   race  — and   if  an    officer,  of  its    educated    and   then 
privileged  class— famed  rrom  the  period  of  Charlemagne  in  the 
battle  fields  of  the  world,  for    their   achievements,  among  the 

more  recent  of  which  we  can  now  recall  their  instrumentality 

including  the  death  of  two  Princes  of  Brunswick-— in  the  earlier 
conflicts,  in  the  overthrow  of  two  Emperors  of  the  Bonaparte 
dynasty,  and  its  suppression. 

The  Tory  was  not  allowed  to  remain  after  the  Revolution 
had    succeeded,  to  submit    to   the  result  of  what   he  had  from 
habit  and  education   rejected,  when  pressed  upon  him  by  arms. 
It  would  seem  to  be  improper,  after  the  expiration  of  a  cen- 
tury, to  question  the  action  of  the  brave  men — carefully  selected 
to    represtnt    the    popular    sentiment,    and    clearly    influenced 
by   more   than    usual    intelligence  —  as    to   their   policy    in   the 
smallest  detail,  in  securing  our  national  existence,  or  to  believe 
that  they  could  have  acted  in  this  important  particular,  without 


in  the  Revolution. 


31 


a  better   knowledge  than  we  can  even  yet  appreciate,  of  their 
position  and  of  their  necessities. 

We  know  that  our  country  was  exhausted  in  men  and  means 
when  the  contest  eiuied,'5  that  the    British    lion    had    retreated 

'!  The  following  copied  from  a  signed  duplicate  original,  shows  the  necessity  of  the 
government,  the  relative  ability  of  the  States,  and  the  change?  in  their  sub- 
lequent  progress. 

Bv  THK  United  States,  in  Congress  assemhled. 

Sepltmher  4,  1782, 
On  the  report  of  a  (General  Committee,  consisting  of  a  member  from  each  state 
Rciol-ved,  That  one  million  two  hundred  thousand  dollars  has  been  quotjed  on  the 
States  as  absolutely  and  immediately   necessary  for   payment  of  the   interest  on   the 
public  debt,   and  that  it  be  recommended  to  the  Legislatures  of  the  respe.  tive  Slates 
tolay  such  taxes  as   jhall  appear  to  them  must   proper  and  etftctual   for  immediately 
raising  their  ijuota  of  tlie  aiiove  sum. 

Reso/'vfJ,  That  the  money  so  raised  in  each  Stue,  shall  be  applied  towards  paying 
the  interest  due  on  certiricat-s  issued  from  the  loan  office  of  each  State,  and  other 
liquidated  debts  of  the  United  States  contracted  therein,  before  any  part  thereof  shall 
be  paid  into  the  public  treasury. 

Ordered,  That  the  foregoing  Resolutions  be  referred  to  the  Grand  Committee,  to 
assess  and  report  the  quota  of  each  State. 


On  the  report  tf  the  Grand  Ctmmtttee  : 

AVWx'Cfy,  That  Si, 200,000  to  be  raised  for  the 
domestic  debt  of  the  United  States,  be  appropriated 
to  the  following  quotas,  viz  : 

New  Hampshire, 
Massachusetts, 
Rhode  Island, 
Connecticut, 
New  York, 
New  Jersey, 
Pennsylvania, 
Delaware, 
Maryland, 
Virginia. 
North  Carolina, 
South  Carolina, 
Georgia, 


(Signed), 


&ept.   10,  1782. 

payment  of  the   interest  of  the 
to  the  several   States,  according 

$48,000 
192,000 

28,800 
133,200 

54,000 

66,000 
180,000 

16,800 
I  32,000 
174,000 

88,800 

72,000 

14,400 


$1,200,000 

Chas.  Thompson, 

Htcretarf. 


32 


Tories  or  Loyalists 


grimly,  still  holding  his  Canadian  territory  as  a  lair,  which  could 
be  used  after  the  repose  he  also  needtd,  as  a  base  for  the  concen- 
tration of  another  effort,  perhaps  includinij;  the  Loyalists  and 
exchanged  Hessian  prisoners.  That  the  private  contributions 
made  in  England  to  aid  the  government,  after  the  capture  of 
Burgoyne,  might  be  renewed  and  concert  increased,  after  the 
surrender  ot  Cornwallis,  inspired  by  national  chagrin.  They 
perhaps  felt  that  ,i  Preliininarv  Peace  wrung  from  a  mortified 
eneniv.  was  really  a  titice,  depending  on  England's  adjustment 
of  her  difficulties  with  France.  That  the  forces  of  that  ally, 
had  hurried  the  attack  upon  Yorktown,  to  seek  new  laurels  in 
the  West  Indies,  and  might  never  return,  and  that  even  Defin- 
itive Treaties  had  often  been  broken. 

Even  after  that  Peace,  they  probably  doubted  its  continuance 
—  as  was  justified  by  the  war  of  i8l2'*  —  and  from  these 
considerations,  loc/ked  upon  the  continued  presence  of  the  Tory 
element  as  likelv  lo  prove  a  lasting  danger. 

A  reference  to  '•^  Sabine's  Loyalists"  will  readily  show,  in  the 
records  of  many  of  them  in  the  Colonial  and  Revolutionary  wars, 
that   they  were  largely  men  of  militarv  experience'?  and  the  ques- 

'«>  III  Ills  "Campaign,  of'  the-  War  i)t  1812  and  15,"  lecently  puhlishc),  General 
CuUuni  — who  will  he  renicmhcied  by  posterity  for  his  lite  labor  in  recording  the 
inilitaiy  rerords  ot'all  of  the  giaduatos  of  the  military  academy  —  throws  much  light 
on  a  dark  subject.  Intending  to  do  justice  to  the  officers  of  his  own  —  the  Engineer 
corps,  he  has  apparently  aftorded  the  best  account  of  the  strategic  failure  of  a  war 
gallantiv  fought  in  the  field,  but  io  disgracefully  managed  in  the  Bureau,  as  to  leave 
an  impression,  in  many  ccJiiipetent  minds,  that  it  was  intended  to  be  a  failure,  to 
avoid  the  annexation  of  Canada,  then  by  reason  of  the  scarcity  of  British  Troops 
and  other  circumstances  apparently  possible. 

•7  The  •'  Letter;,  from  the  Marquis  do  .Montcalm,  Governor  General  of  Canada, 
Scz."  published  by  Almon,  in  London,  in  1777,  '"  fhe  heat  of  the  controversy  — 
and  at  once  declared,  even  in  Parliament,  to  contain  predictions  manufactured  after 
the  results  were  verified — are  still  a  subject  of  discussed  authenticity,  although 
mainly  settled  by  recent  developments  by  Francis  Parkman  and  others,  to  have  been 
simulated.  At  least  they  appear  lo  contain  a  valuable  cotemporary  view  of  the 
condition  of  the  then  Colonies,  the  material  of  their  population,  and  the  probability 
of  their  speedily  turning  their  arms  against  their  mother  country,  when  the  danger 
of  the  French  as  a  hostile  neighbor  was  removed. 


in  the  Revolution. 


33 


tion  for  the  victors  to  pass  upon,  was  whether  a  cordial  acceptance 
of  the  result  ot  their  recent  overthrow  could  be  relied  upon, 
and  a  new  allegiance  could  divest  them  of  their  old  attachment 
or  entiiely  subordinate  them  to  the  impressions  and  duties, 
necessary  to  reliable  citizenship. 

It  has  been  claimed,  that  as  thev  included  in  their  number 
nianv  large  holders  ot  property,  and  that  its  forfeiture  —  on 
which  new  fortunes  were  speedily  founded  —  the  release  of 
debts  and  arrears  before  the  war,  to.  and  the  cancelling  of 
contracts  with  them,  were  also  used  as  influences  against  an 
amnestv  on  even  severe  conditions,'"  such  as  had  usuallv  then 
been  extended  to  the  Indians,  after  their  conquest,  by  most  of 
the  colonies. 

It  was  said  by  Addiscn,  that  "a  man  of  merit  in  a  different 
principle,  is  like  an  object  seen  in  two  different  mediums,  that 
appears  crooked  and  broken,  however  straight  and  entire  it  may 
be  in  itself,  p'or  this  reason  there  is  scarcely  a  person  of  figure 
in  England,  who  does  not  go  by  two  contrary  characters,  as 
opposite  to  one  another  as  light  and  darkness." 

»•*  The  severity  of  an  indiscriminate  tontiscation  was  early  recognized.  In  the 
preliminaiy  Treaty  of  Peace,  toiniulatcd  at  Versailles  on  the  20th  ot  January,  1783, 
negotiated  by  Adams,  Franklin,  Jay  and  Henry  Laurens,  on  the  part  of"  the  United 
States  —  all  illustrious  citizens  .ind  principally  J'ureijin  ministers  —  the  only  represent- 
ative ot  Great  Biitain  was  Richard  Oswald,  a  merchant  ot  1-ondon,  selected  alone 
to  represent  her,  without  liie  cereniony  attendinj;  happier  ney(Jtiaticjns  and 
probably  with  a  view  to  his  acceptability  to  those  he  was  to  meet,  as  having 
lately  bailed  .Mr.  Laurens  from  the  Tower  when  captured  at  sea,  on  his  way  to  his 
Mission  at  the  Hayue.  By  that  'I'reaty,  condensed  in  nine  biief  stipulations,  in 
Article  v,  "It  is  ajjreed  that  the  Congress  shall  earnestly  recommend  it  to  the  Legis- 
latures of  tlie  respective  States,  to  provide  tor  the  restitution  of  all  estates,  rights  and 
properties  of  persons  resident  in  distiicts,  in  the  possession  of  his  Majesty's  arms,  and 
who  have  :u)t  borne  arms  against  the  said  United  States.  And  that  persons,  of  any 
Other  description,  shall  have  tree  liberty  to  go  into  any  part  or  parts  of  any  of  the  Thir- 
teen United  States,  and  therein  to  remain  twelve  months  unmolested  in  their  endeavors 
to  obtain  the  restitution  of  each  of  ilieir  estates,  riglits  and  properties,  as  may  have 
been  confiscated  ;  and  that  Congress  shall  also  earnestly  recumnnend  to  the  several  statei 


f 


34 


Torjes  or  Loyalists 


It  may  be  noticed  that  the  persons  here  incidentally  alluded  to, 
may  be  mostly  classed  as  persons  of  figure  at  the  period  and 
that  Addison's  impression  was  as  applicable  to  the  colonies  as 
to  the  mother  country.  The  customs  of  the  one  had  been 
early  introduced  into  the  other,  in  the  habits  of  life,  and  the 
a'^ioption  of  many  of  the  ideas  and  principles  which  governed  at 
home. 

The  acquisition  ot  land  has  been  as  we  know,  from  the 
earliest  period  one  of  tht-  most  marked  instincts  of  man.  None 
knew  better  than  the  settlers  the  traditional  influence  attending 
land  secured  by  entail,  as  the  basis  of  the  perpetuation  of  families 
at  home,  and  many  younger  sons  and  connections  of  such 
privileged  owners  were  then  amongst  the  first  comers.  Nor 
were  they  slow  after  their  arrival  in  seeking  for  similar  endow- 
ments. A  vast  area  of  readily  productive  land,  forests,  fisheries 
and  mines,  lay  open  to  new  colonists  ;  and  facile  governors,  sent 
generally  by  favor,  to  better  their  estates  —  at  least  before  dis- 
sensions demanded  more  eflftcient  selections  —  were  readv  to 
promote    grants  of  crown    lands,  and  even    manors  with    some 

a  recoiisideiatioii  ui.i  n-visioii  of  the  acts  and  laws  regarding  tlie  prcinises.  so  as  to 
render  the  said  lawa  o:  acts  piitectlv  consistent,  not  only  witli  justice  and  equity,  but 
with  the  spirit  ot  conciliation,  which  in  the  return  of  the  blessings  oF  peace  shouhi 
universally  prevail.  And  that  Congress  shall  also  earnestly  recommend  to  the 
several  States,  that  the  estates,  rights  and  properties  of  such  last  mentioned  persons, 
shall  be  restored  to  them,  they  refunding  to  any  persons  who  may  be  now  in  posses- 
sion, the  bona  tida  price  (where  any  has  been  given)  which  such  person^  may  have 
paid  on  purchasing  any  of  said  lands  or  properties,  since  the  confiscation.  And  it  is 
agreed,  That  all  persons  who  have  any  interest  in  confiscated  lands,  either  by  debts, 
marriage  settlements,  or  otherwise,  shall  meet  with  no  legal  impediment  in  the 
pi-osecution  of  their  just  rights."  It  was  also  ;  ^reed  by  Article  vi.  "That  there  shall 
be  no  future  confiscations  made,  nor  any  prosecutions  commencitd  against  any  person 
or  persons  for,  or  by  reason  of  the  part  which  he  or  they  may  have  taken  in  the 
present  war,  apd  chat  no  person  shall,  on  that  account,  sutfer  any  future  loss  or 
damage,  either  in  his  person,  liberty  or  property,  and  that  those  wl»o  may  be  in 
confinement  on  such  charge  at  the  time  of  the  ratification  of  the  Treaty  in  America, 
shall  be  immediately  set  at  liberty,  and  the  prosecution  so  commenced  be  discontinued." 


in  the  Revolution, 


35 


feudal  privileges,  induced  by  the  eking  out  of  a  small  salary  by 
the  considerable  tees  attending  the  entnes,  and  often,— as 
existing  written  evidence  proves  — by  a  concealed  interest  with 
the  grantee.  To  the  foundation  of  such  granted  or  purchased 
estates  followed  then-  division  and  use  by  tenants,  or  distribu- 
tion by  sale.  There  were  many  monopolies,  similarly  procured, 
soon  also  available  as  sources  of  wealth  and  as  the  crops  and 
productions  of  the  land,  the  mines,  ttie  timber,  the  naval  stores, 
and  the  risheries  increased,  and  their  development  and  control 
by  merchants  and  shippers  accumulated  wealth,  there  followed 
naturally  the  introduction  of  every  luxury  and  appliance,  custom 
and  habit  of  life,  used  by  the  privileged  class  in  the  mother 
country. 

The  milir-uy  and  civil  service  b-ought  out  many  cadets 
of  English  fa  lilies,  to  rind  :,  permanent  home  br  settlement 
or  marriage.  As  England  was  politicallv  an  '  aristocracy, 
the  colonies  as  a  part  of  it,  imitated  its  habits  and  fostered  its 
restrictions.  It  has  been  claim.d  that  with  manv  who  bad 
acquired  the  convexity  of  affluence,  and  aspired  to  position,  the 
exclusion  from  the  higher  ofiice.s,  and  the  precedence  on  a  state 
occasion,  accorded  to  some  stripling  sub.dtern  in  a  crimson  coat, 
was  a  grievance  harder  to  be  borne  than  taxation.  With  pros- 
perity and  wealth  came  the  dcM-.e  for  education,  and  that  culti- 
vation which  should  confer  on  their  children  some  of  the  ad- 
vantages which  thev  had  seen  accorded,  to  the  scions  of  those 
privileged  families  at  home. 

The  schools  of  Eton  and    Harrow,  and    the  Universities   of 
Oxford  and  Cambridge,  were  filled  with  young  Americans,  who 
while  studying   the    humanities,  were   naturally    comparing  the' 
5 


aa^K-MlMa 


36 


Tones  o?^  Loyalists 


political  privileges  which   surrounded   them,  with  those  of  their 
home. 

Those  in  London,  during  the  period  of  the  dissensions  referred 
to,  watched  the  progress  of  events  in  the  galleries  of  Parliament 
and  studied  statesmanship  there,  often  with  their  profession  in 
the  purlieus  of  the  Temple  and  the  Inns  of  Court,  both  indis- 
pensible  in  the  coming  events  in  that  distant  home.  Probably 
in  their  social  intercourse  they  felt  the  sense  of  inferiority  as 
colonists,  impressed  upon  them  by  the  home  born  young  Britons, 
ever  conscious  of  national  and  often  of  personal  superiority  — 
with  whom  they  were  associated,  and  already  dreamed  of  political 
and  social  equality. '9 

Their  home  constituency,  combining  a  large  element  of 
veterans  raueht  to  wield  arms  in  the  border  wars,  conscious 
of  their  power  ;  and  of  those  devoted  to  the  pursuits  of 
peace,  conceded  in  the  selection  for  such  offues  as  were 
left  to  their  choice,  the  claims  of  superior  eiiucatiun  and  larger 
opportunity  for  the  study  of  public  affairs  ;  for  in  those  days, 
the  place  sought  the  man  as  generally  as  in  the  present,  men  seek 
the  place.  As  an  example,  Edward  Rutledge,  Thomas  Hay- 
ward,  Jr.,  Thomas  Lynch,  Jr.,  and  Arthur  Middlcton,  all  early 
movers  for  redress  from  grievances,  members  from  South  Car- 
olina of  the  early  Congresses,  and  its  Signers  of  the  Declaration, 

'9  An  amusing  instance  of  the  social  line  tlien  drawn,  is  given  by  Col.  Stone. 
When  William,  an  half  breed  —  fcUj-poed  to  be  Sii  William's  boy,  and  an  associate 
ofyiiung  Brant  at  Dr.  Wheelock's  school,  was  directed  by  his  instructor's  son  to 
saddle  a  horse,  he  refused,  saying  be  tvas  not  a  Gtinicnian.  When  asked  to  define 
what  a  gentleman  was,  lie  replied,  "  a  person  who  keeps  race  horses  and  drink* 
Madeira  wine,  and  that  is  what  neither  you  nor  your  father  do."  It  is  not  probable 
that  thib  impression  originated  with  the  boy,  but  it  suggests  whether  the  keeping  of 
too  many  race  iiorses,  and  the  drinking  of  too  much  Madeira,  may  not  have  been 
one  ot  the  causes  of  the  distinction  he  describes  finding  its  decadence  in  the  progress 
of  events  and  the  development  of  new  elements  of  citizenship,  rapidly  dividing 
property  and  power  with  these  earlier  comers. 


in  the  Revolution. 


11 


were,  with  Charles  Coatesworth  Pinckney,  John  Laurens  and 
many  others  eariy  in  the  field  from  that,  and  a  large  number 
who  served  in  both  from  other  Colonies  —  recently  educated 
in  England. 

The  Congress  that  declared  the  country  free,  which  was 
probably  as  representative  of  the  ability  of  the  American  people 
as  any  that  succeeded  it,  was,  according  to  the  custom  of  the 
day,  composed  of  such  "  men  of  figure  "  in  the  colonies  as  the 
people  at  the  time,  considered  best  suited  to  protect  their  common 
interest.  The  Clergy,  Lawyers,  Doctors,  Judges,  Magistrates, 
Planters  and  prosperous  Merchants  and  Manufacturers  were 
mainly  its-  material  ;  there  was  an  entire  absence  of  those  who 
devoted  themselves  to  politics  or  agitation  professionally. 

Perhaps  the  difference  of  sentiment,  which  soon  divided  the 
people  in  arms,  may  be  illustrated  by  hastily  referring  to  the 
career  of  one  member  of  that  celebrated  body,  who,  while 
occupying  in  many  particulars  the  same  position  as  the  John- 
sons, was  overwhelmed  and  mainly  forgotten  in  the  ruin  he 
brought  upon  himself,  in  the  honest  assertion  or  antipodal  con- 
victions. 

Richard  Stockton,  oi  New  Jersey,  would  appear  to  have 
been  symmetrically,  in  every  relation,  such  a  ''  person  of 
figure."'  Born  at  Princeton,  in  1730,  on  the  extended  estate  of 
his  fathers,  carefully  educated  as  his  position  justiHed.  and  his 
natural  abilities  made  easy,  he  graduated  at  Nassau  Hall,  in 
1748,  under  the  tutelage  of  President  Burr.  When  fitted  b/ 
professional  training,  he  readily  asserted  his  position,  as  one  of 
the  ablest  of  a  distinguished  bar.  The  cultivation  of  his  mind, 
is  said  to  have  kept  pace  with  that  of  a  graceful  and  attractive 
person,  physically  fitted   for  endurance  and   superiority  in  all 


3« 


Ivories  or  hoyalists 


manly  enterprises.  While  doing  the  honors  of  his  stately  home, 
with  a  broad  hospitality  and  benevolence,  aided  by  a  wife  to 
whom  he  was  devoted,  he  had  adorned  it  with  many  objects 
of  interest,  including  one  of  the  finest  libraries  in  the  colonies. 
He  combined  an  interest  in  all  that  affected  the  public,  with 
an  appreciation  of  every  social  pleasure,  uniting  in  the  gayeties 
of  the  little  Viceregal  Court  of  his  Governor,  Sir  William 
Franklin,'°  while  already  considering  the  grievances  charged 
against  his  delegated  action.  He  is  claimed  by  his  honorable 
character,  and  sympathetic  manners,  to  have  earned  the  ap- 
preciation of  all.  Devoting  his  leisure  to  the  improvement  of 
his  mind,  body  and  estate,  on  the  latter  he  bred  the  choicest 
horses  and  cattle,  he  was  celebrated  tor  his  mount  as  well 
as   for   his     seat,    for    his    skill   as    a    marksman,  and    in    such 

"  Governor  Franklin  was  a  protege  of  Lord  Bute,  by  whose  influence  and  that  of 
his  father —  when  courted  by  the  administration  —  he  was  created  Governor  of  New 
lersey  without  any  marked  service  above  that  of  a  captain  in  the  French  War. 
On  his  release  he  returned  to  Europe.  His  more  memorable  fatJier  who  could  con- 
trol lightning  failed  in  influencing  the  loyalt)  of  his  son. 

In  munv  particulars  there  was  a  similarity  between  the  position  and  treatment  of 
Governor  Franklin  and  Sir  John  Johnson  in  this  year.  The  following  letter  is 
copied  from  the  original  and  shows  the  action  of  Congress. 

Philadeli'hia,  jfunc  24,  1776. 
Gentlemen  :  Your  Favor  respecting  the  proper  measures  to  he  taken  with  your 
late  Governor,  William  Franklyn,  Esq.,  came  to  Hand  on  Saturday  the  22d  inst. 
But  as  the  Congress  did  not  sit  on  that  Day  1  could  not  lay  it  before  tiiem  till 
Monday.  1  now  do  myself  the  Honour  of  enclosing  to  you  the  Resolve  of  Congress 
which  they  have  this  day  passed  with  Regard  to  the  Treatment  of  him.  You  will 
therefore  perceive  the  Congress  have  directed  him  to  be  sent  to  Connecticut  under  a 
guard.  I  shall  write  to  Gov.  Trumbull  to  treat  him  as  a  Prisoner  should  he  refuse 
to  give  his  Parole  in  Writing. 

I  have  the  Honour  to  be  Gentlemen  your  most 

obed't  and  very  humble  serv't. 

John  Hancock, 

Presid't. 

The  other  resolves  herewith  transmitted,  are  of  such  a  Nature  that  no  arguments 
are  necessary  to  enforce  them.  You  will  be  pleased  to  attend  to  them  as  soon  as 
possible. 

Hon'ble  Convention  of  Neiu  Jersey. 


' 


in  the  Revolution. 


39 


of 
is 


!nts 
as 


athletic  sports  as  are  now  supplemented  by  polo,  lawn  tennis, 
boating  and  ball  matches,  in  which  pleasure  is  realized 
through  exertion.  Such  pursuits  and  pastimes  of  his  lesser 
existence,  were  with  him  only  the  oil  applied  to  the  machinery 
of  an  earnest  life  ! 

In  1 766,  he '' made  his  tour,"  as  was  customary  then  as 
now,  spending  two  years  in  Englind,  cultivating  the  ac- 
quaintance of  public  men  to  whom  his  access  was  easy, 
obtaining  an  audience  by  the  voung  King,  who  graciously 
received  him,  and  communing  with  some  leaders,  with 
whom  he  was  destined  to  hold  earlv  intercourse,  and  to  whom 
he,  even  then,  probably  imparted  his  growing  apprehensions. 
In  an  unpublished  letter,  written  in  London  in  that  year  to  his 
wife  —  one  of  the  few  relics  of  his  then  impending  ruin,  which 
survive  in  the  hands  of  his  family,  and  which  Dr.  Emmet 
thoughtfully  directed  to  be  facsimiled  —  he  sa\s,  '"•  I  have  had 
a  perfect  state  of  health  since  I  left  you,  blessed  be  God 
Almighty,  and  let  me  tell  you  that  all  the  Elegance  and 
Grandeur  I  have  yet  seen  in  these  Kingdoms,  in  different 
families  where  I  have  been  received,  serves  but  to  increase  the 
pleasure  I  have  fur  some  years  enjoyed  in  my  Domestick  con- 
nections. I  see  not  a  sensible,  obliging,  tender  wife,  but  the 
Image  of  my  dear  Emelia,  is  full  in  view.  I  see  not  a  haughty 
ignorant  imperious  dame,  but  I  rejoice  that  the  partner  of  my 
life  is  so  much  her  opposite.  But  why  need  T  tall;  so  gallantly  } 
You  knew  me  long  ago,  as  well  as  you  would  should  I  write  a 
volume  on  this  endearing  topic." 

The  fitness  of  a  man  so  constituted  and  prepared  for 
public  usefulness,  was  not  then  long  overlooked.  Returning 
in  1768,  he  was  named  for  a  seat  in  the  Council  of  the  colony — 


irlk;««^^ 


40 


'Tories  or  Loyalists 


at  the  time  an  honored  place,  and,  in  1774,  elevated  to  the 
Supreme  Bench,  acquitting  himself  with  credit  in  each  position. 
When  he  saw  the  political  clouds  which  he  had  carefully 
watched,  about  to  break,  he  had  prepared  himself  by  study  of 
precedents,  and  communion  with  wise  men,  for  the  result,  and 
made  every  effort  to  avert  it.  The  annexed  appeal,  copied 
from  the  original  draft  —  written  with  a  firm  and  graceful 
chirographv,  but  in  ink  as  faded  by  time  as  any  general  memory 
of  his  service — expressing  the  result  of  such  conclusion  in 
dignified  and  manly  terms,  and  showing  by  its  impersonal  form, 
the  writer's  appreciation  of  the  etiquette,  which  prevented  a 
direct  interference  with  public  affairs  beyond  his  control  — 
was  submitted  to  the  minister  without  concealment  of  author- 
ship or  the  avoidance  of  responsibility,  by  the  hand  of  a 
friend." 

''  An  E.vi'EDiENT  kok  thk  Seitlemeni  Oh  THE  AMERICAN  Disi'UTEs  humbly  sub- 
mitted ( "  ort'eied"  eiMsed  )  to  the  consideration  ot"  his  Majesty's  Ministers,  by  an 
American. 


The  Sure  of  A'Ufu.in  Ajfain  is  .ij  />ij<i/y  ,tl,irmitig  at  thi.<  ■■»!!,  tliat  any  real  friend 
to  the  British  Empire,  ought  to  suggest  every  probable  expedient  that  occurs  to  him, 
for  the  accommodation  of  the  unhappy  disputes  between  Great  Britain  and  the 
Colonies  —to  give  the  following  ^uggestions  their  due  weight,  it  must  be  premised— 
1st.  That  the  several  North  American  Colonies,  from  New  Hampshire  to  South 
Carolina  inclusive,  (i'r  <ii/c  f'j  funils/i  ^00,000  fighting  mm  ;  who  are  in  general  as 
fit  for  service  as  the  English  Militia,  and  many  of  them  mucli  more  so,  having  been 
in  active  service  in  the  last  war.  md.  That  the  great  body  of  the  people  ot  these 
several  Colonic-  are  now  (  even  to  the  astonishment  of  many  Colonists  themselves  ) 
perfectly  united  in  a  detciminate  off'uiti'ii:  to  the  authority  of  the  British  Parliament  as  to 
all  internal  Taxation.  3d.  That  there  is  not  the  least  remaining  doubt,  if  the 
British  Government  should  proceed  to  put  the  late  .Acts  of  Parliament,  respecting 
the  Massachusetts  Bay  (or  any  "ther  Acts  which  involve  the  Idea  of  an  absolute 
uncontrollable  power  in  the  British  Parliament  over  the  Colonics) ;  into  execution,  by 
force,  but  that  the  said  Colonies  ivjuI.I  unit<hy  attrwptin^  f,  repel,  force  by  font.  To 
which  may  be  added,  what  is  as  well  or  perhaps  better  known  in  Great  Britain  than  in 
America  to  wit  :  4th.  That  the  certain  consequences  of  this  unnatural  war  will  be 
dreadful  to  both  Great  Britain  and  America,  and  the  prohahle  effects  thereof  may  be 
fatal  to  the  whole  British  Empire.  Matters  standing  thus  and  the  three  first  proposi- 
tions above  premised  being  founded  upon  the  most  indubitable  facts  (of  which  the 
writer  of  this  from  his  general  acquaintance  with  America,  is  perhaps  as  competent  a 


in  the  Revolution. 


41 


Such  remonstrances,  made  in  and  out  of  Parliament  by  the 
friends  of  America,  desirous  of  preserving  with  honor  its  early 
institutions,  failed  to  attract  attention,  and  the  storm  of  oppo- 
sition to  them  finally  burst.  Stockton  had  already  selected  his 
course  and  indifferent   to  office,  personal  exemption,  or  private 

judge  as  any  man  whatever),  it  is  humbly  proposed  tu  his  Majesty's  Ministers  whether 
it  would  not  be  proper,  ist.  That  a  royal  Insl.uction  be  immediately  obtained  and 
lent  over  to  the  several  Governors  of"  the  North  American  Colonies  requesting  them 
forthwith  to  recommend  it  to  their  several  Assemblies  to  pass,  and  to  give  their  own 
assent  to  an  Act  which  may  be  passed  by  the  Legislatures  of  several  Provinces, 
comprising  certain  Commissioners,  therein  to  he  mimed  to  repair  to  England,  with 
power  to  confer  wth  his  Majesty's  Ministers,  or  with  Commissioners  to  be  appointed 
by  Parliament,  respecting  the  grand  points  in  dispute  between  Great  Britain  and 
America,  and  finally  to  determine  thereupon.  and.  That  to  prevent  all  disputes  in 
future,  the  said  American  Commissioners  be  also  empowered  to  confer  and  agiee  with 
the  British  Commissioners  respecting  the  future  Coierntnem  and  regulation  of  the 
Colonies,  either  by  framing  one  general  system  of  Government  for  all  the  Culoniel 
on  the  Continent  similar  to  the  British,  or  by  making  some  material  alteration  in 
the  present  mode  of  Provincial  Government.  In  either  of  which  systems,  some 
effectual  provision  may  be  made/o.  the  adeju^jte  support  of  the  American  Go-vemment 
by  the  Americans  themsel-ves,  and  also  for  the  payment  of  all  such  sums  of  money  ai 
may  become  due  from  America  to  Great  Britain  for  the  assistance  of  her  Fh  ets  and 
Army.  These  determinations  of  the  said  Commissioners  to  be  subjected  nevertheless 
to  such  alteration  .is  the  wisdom  of  his  Majesty  and  his  Parliament  of  Great  Britain 
may  make  therein,  and  as  shall  be  agreed  to  by  the  several  Provincial  Legislatures. 
3d.  That  upon  such  instructions  being  given  to  the  several  Governors, his  Majesty  to 
be  advised  in  his  royal  clemency,  to  recommend  it  to  his  Parliament  to  suspend  the 
operation  of  the  Boston  Port  Acts,  while  the  determination  of  the  said  Commissionert 
sh<.uUl  he  had.  The  author  of  the  above  hints  offers  them  with  all  humility,  and 
with  great  diffidence  of  his  own  ability  on  so  great  and  national  a  question.  But  some 
expedient  must  be  immediately  fallen  upon,  or  we  shall  be  imiol-ved  in  a  Ci-vil  IVar  the 
most  obstinate,  awful  and  tremendous  that  perhaps  e-ver  occurred  since  the  Creation  of  the 
World.  He  will  esteem  it  a  signal  blessing  of  Divine  Providence  conferred  upon 
him,  if  any  one  Idea  he  hath  suggested  may  be  of  any  use  at  this  dreadful  crisis. 
And  if  otherwise,  he  will  at  least  be  able  to  comfort  himself  with  the  uprightness  of 
his  intentions  in  this  feeble  attempt,  and  with  the  assurance  that  he  can  do  no  harm, 
either  to  himself  or  any  other  person, 
December  12,  1774. 


Endorsed  by  the  writer  —  on   this  the  corrected  draught  —  "  Hints  transmitted  to 
Lord  Dartmouth,  Secretary  of  State  for  America,  through  the  hands  of  Samuel  Smith 
Esq.,  of  London,  Merchant."  * 


This  Appeal,  and  many  similar  ones  we  know,  were  made  in  vain  to  a  govern- 
ment impressed  by  unwise  counsels,  and  a  King  who  Jeclared  •<  That  the  American! 
meant  only  to  amuse  by  vague  expressions  of  attachment  and  the  strongest  professioni 


4-2 


Tories  or  Loyalists 


interest,  accepted  a  seat  in  the  then  rebel  Congress.  While 
the  Declaration  of  Independence  was  being  considered,  he 
listened  in  silence,  and  with  profound  attention  to  the  debate, 
but  with  a  grave  face  and  a  sad  heart,"  when  under  later 
usages,  a  membei'  who  had  determined  to  risk  his  life  for  the 
benefit  of  his  "  constituency,"  might  have  suggested  some 
trifling  amendment,  to  remind  them  at  once  of  his  presence  at 
an  important  crisis,  and  the  superior  grasp  of  his  intellect  to 
that  of  the  illustrious  committee  who  reported  it.  It  has  been 
suggested  that  the  Congress  ot  1776,  was  limited  in  its  mem- 
bership to  men  whose  merit  had  been  recognized  in  the  ad- 
ministration of  their  own  private  interests  and  duties,  a  valued 
experience  to  those  assuming  a  public  trust.  Many  of  them 
had  shown  this  also  in  the  colonial  assemblies,  where  the  honor 
had  compensated  for  the  expense,  beyond  the  trifling  allow- 
ance. When  the  proper  moment  arrived  he  signed  it,  accepted 
it  as  the  chart  by  which  he  was  fated  to  sail  to  his  personal 
shipwreck,  overwhelmed  while  aiding  to  secure  the  privileges 
we  enjoy. 

In  devoting  himself  to  the  cause,  he  declined  the  honors  offered 
to  him,  to  compensate  tor  those  he  had  sacrificed.  On  a  tie 
vote,  between  himself  and  William  Livingston  —  another  de- 
voted and  able  patriot — on  the  first  election  for  governor,  he  de- 
clined further  contest  with  so  worthy  a  man,  and  also  refused  the 
Chief  Justiceship,    probably    won  by  his  magnanimity.     With 

of  loyalty,  while  they  were  preparing  for  a  general  revolt,  for  the  purpose  of  establishing 
an  independent  Empire."  At  least,  the  policy  suggested  by  Mr.  Stockton  had  som; 
influence  at  home,  for  on  the  first  day  of  the  following  September,  Richard  Penii 
and  Arthur  Lee  delivered  to  Lord  Dartmouth  a  petition  from  Congress  to  the  King 
embodying  the  above  views  and   probably  borrowed  from  them,  and    were    informed 

that  NO  ANSWER   WOULD  BE  GIVEN. 

"  Sanderson's  Signers. 


in  the  Revolution. 


43 


his    colleague   Clymer,  he   visited   the  camp   ot   the    Northern 
army,  and    consulted   with   the   gallant    Schuvler,  as  to  details 
already  tending  there  to  a  great  triumph.      Soon,  the  ravages  of 
war  reached  and  destroyed   that  happy   home,  his   family  was 
driven   into    exile,  his    lands   were  laid  waste,  and    his    favorite 
horses  appropriated   by    the    raiders.      Then,   to   complete    his 
misfortunes,  when   captured  by  them,  he  was  carried  into  New 
York,  and  from  his  prominent  position  as  a  recent  King's  officer, 
"ignominiously  thrown  into  a  common  jail,"  and  contiiied  with 
such  cruelty   that   when   exchanged,   upon    the  special   remon- 
strances of  Congress,  conveyed  by   Washington,  his    shattered 
health  unfitted  him  for  further  usefulness,  and  a  lingering  life  of 
suffering  was  the   rinal   fulfillment  of  his   remarkable   promise, 
which  terminated   on  the  twenty-eighth  of  February,  1781,  too 
soon  to   know   or   the   effect   of  the  artillery  at   Yorktown,  in 
consummating  the  freedom  for  which,  after  exhorting  his  children 
to  remember  that  "  the  fear  of  God  is  the  beginning  of  wisdom," 
he  had  died  a  martyr.      In  many   countries  such  service  would 
be  recorded  by  monuments  '•  more  lasting  than  brass,"  and  his 
''tete    day""    remembered    and   celebrated;    in   the  engrossing 
present  of   what   he   aided    to   create,  is   it    not   doubtful   if  his 
name  is  known   to  all  of  those  even  in  his  native  State,  where 
some  evidently  concentrate  in  themselves  and  in  their  surround- 
ings, the  beginning  and  end  of  all  interest  in  the  perpetuation  of 
their  existence  as  freemen.      Is  it   not   equally    so,   if  he   were 
living,  whether  those  services  would  command  a  sufficient  vote 
of  appreciation   to   return   him   to  Congress,   if  vigorously  op- 
posed by  some  political  organization  or  machine,  supported   by 
the  now  common  outlay. 
6 


44 


Tories  or  Loyalists 


But  our  national  existence  appears  largely  due  to  the  folly  of  its 
rulers,  even  more  than  to  the  resistance  of  the  colonies.  When 
relieved  of  a  hostile  neighbor  by  the  conquest  of  Canada,  they 
needed  no  longer  the  protecting  assistance  of  the  parent  gov- 
ernment. The  continuous  border  warfare  with  the  French  then 
ended,  and  also  that  with  all  of  the  Indians,  surrounding  the 
upper  lakes,  in  the  successful  defence  of  Detroit  and  the  defeat  of 
Pontiac.  During  the  continuance  of  these  wars,  they  had  been 
compelled  to  keep  an  avera<r,e  of  25,000  troops  under  arms, 
and  had  made  a  valuable  expenditure  of  thirtv  thousand  lives. 
They  claimed  a  large  balance,  some  .£350,000  for  outlays. 
A  vote  of  jG200,ooo  by  Parliament  on  the  recommendation  of 
George  III  at  once  on  his  accession,  while  admitting  the 
necessity  for  such  assistance,  seems  inconsistent  with  a  ' 
claim  soon  after  made  for  a  revenue  of  Xioo,ooo  by  direct 
taxation.  In  1775  the  debt  of  Great  Britain  was  estimated 
at  three  hundred  millions  and  its  interest  charges  in  1776, 
£4,800,000  of  which  ,£19,000  was  claimed  as  for  the  expenses 
of  the  first  year  of  the  war. 

There  had  been  dissensions  between  the  Governors  and  the 
Assen^blies,  and  a  successful  resistance  to  the  foreign  taxes  on 
sugar  and  molasses.  Writs  of  assistance  ordering  the  collection, 
had  been  reluctantly  granted,  and  little  used.  An  uncomfortable 
relation  had  grown  up  between  the  colonies,  now  a  prosperous 
and  warlike  people,  and  their  mother  country.  Sir  Robert 
Walpole'3  had  years  before  divined  that  their  direct  taxation  was 

«3  Doubtk-ss  their  cl.indestine  trade  with  the  Sp.inish  Colonies,  exporting  British 
manufactures  in  exJi.ingc  for  specie,  made  stamps  more  objectionalile,  but  far  seeing 
Walpole  claimed,  tluit  of'  every  £500,000  so  gained  by  them,  one-half  would  be 
expended  in  Kiitjland.  Their  friends  throughout  persistently  sustained  them  in  Parlia- 
ment. Chatham,  Rockingham,  Newcastle,  Camden  and  Conway  amongst  tlie  earliest, 
with  such  sui  cess,  that  when  partially  to  aid  the  East  India  Conipany,  three  pence  a 
pound  on  tea  was  on  motion  of  Lord  North  alone  persisted  in,  —  on  the  cth  of 
March,  1770 — Captain  Preston  had  on  that  day,  fired  on  the  "  Boston  Mob,"  and 
the  concession  came  too  late. 


in   the  Revolution, 


45 


to  '^disturb  a  hornets'  nest,"  and  left  it 
political    questions    arc    bequeathed  —  ' 


as    h 


e    said 


as   many 


come  after   him,    who  had 


to    those   who   should 


more  courage   than  himself: 


a  I 


id 


the  judicious  Pitt,  when  it  was  suggested  as  a  source  of  needed 
revenue,    expressed    his    unwillingness    to    "burn    his    fingers 
with  an  American   Tax."      What  the  course   of  events    would 
have  been,  if  Frederick,  Prince  of  Wales,  had  Pved  t(,  succeed 
his  father,   is  a   subject    for   conjecture.      He   appears   to  have 
been   controlled  bv    generous  impulses,  and   advanced   ideas  of 
government,   was    frank   and   ingenuous  in   his  carriage,  while 
doubtless  a  sul^ject  for  "  calculation"  or  at   least  observation  as 
to  his   future,  as  an  heir  apparent    ot  mature    years    is    apt    to 
be.      It  was   asserted    that   he   favored   dividing   the  control  of 
his    father's    Whig    advisors —representing    the    ruling    party 
since    the    Protestant     succession  —  and    admitting     the    long 
neglected   Tory  element    to   share  it,  and  to    neutralize  the  in! 
fluence  of  both,  by  subordinating  every  element  to  the  develop- 
ment, in  his  expected  reign-of  Bolinubroke's  ideal  govermnent 
ruled  by  a  "  Patriot  Kingr      Dying  in  his    father's  lifetime,  at 
the  age  of  forty-four,  his  son  succeeded  directly  on  the  decease 
of  his  grandfather  on  the  26tb  of  October,    1760,  at  the  a^e  of 
twenty-two,    having    been    the    first    of    his    familv    bon?  on 
British  soil. 

The  accession    of  George  III'^  ,„  the  throne  wken  proclaimed 
throughout  his  dominions  and  colonies,   was    received   every    where 


46 


Tories  or  Loyalists 


with  (Icmonstiations  of  hope  ami  joy.  The  people  mainly 
at  last,  attached  to  his  family,  augured  from  his  character  and 
youth,  a  relief  from  every  existing  complication.  Their  griev- 
ances and  prayers  for  redress  were  early  addressed  to  the  new 
monarch,  and  steadily  pressed  on  his  attention,  with  increasing 
emphasis.  The  hand  of  his  mother — a  Princess  who  was  known 
by  the  populace  as  "The  Witch,"  and  doubtless  lield  herself  to 
he  capable  and  executive — seems  to  have  shaped  his  destiny  as 
woman  has  often  influenced  the  destinies  of  mankind.  His 
father,  apparentlv  no  mean  judge  of  character,  speaking  of  John 
Stewart,  Earl  of  Bute,  whom  he  had  first  seen  at  tlic  Duchess 
of  Qtieensbury's  fete,  acting  as  "Lothario"  in  the  "Fair 
Penitent,"  apparently  soon  as  an  intimate  at  Leicester  House, 
epigiammatically  described  him  as  '"  a  fine  showy  man  who 
would  make  an  excellent  ambassador  in  anv  court,  where  there 
was  no  business  "  (  Beeton's  Universal  Biography  ),  and  all  his- 

had  very   lately  attained   the  age  ot  complete   majority  ;   being  born   June  4,  1738." 
Be/sAam's  Memoirs  of  Genr^e  III. 

The  late  Dean  Stanley,  in  his  "  Memorials  of'  Weitmintter  Abbey, "  recalls 
some  details  of  the  coronation  ot  Georjje  III,  that  Archbishop  Seeker  who  officiated, 
had  baptized,  confirmed  and  married,  the  King.  That  the  princely  style  in  which 
the  young  King  seated  himselt  after  the  ceremony,  attracted  general  notice."  "  No 
actor  in  the  character  of  Pyrrhus,  in  the  '  Distrest  IVlother,'"  says  Bishop  Newton, 
who  was  present,  "  not  even  Booth  himself,  ever  ascended  the  throne  with  so  much 
grace  and  dignity."  That  the  most  interesting  peculiaiity  of  the  coronation  was  the  un- 
noticed  attendance  of  the  rival  to  the  throne,  Prince  Charles  lidward"  (  the  Pretender, 
then  in  London,  under  the  name  of  Mr.  Brown).  "  I  asked  my  Lord  Marshal," 
savs  David  Hume,  ''the  reason  for  this  strange  fact."  "Ay."  says  he,  "a  gentleman 
told  me  so,  who  saw  him  there,  and  whispered  in  his  ear,  «  Your  Royal  Highness  is 
the  last  of  all  mortals  whom  I  should  expect  to  see  here."  "It  was  curiosity  that 
led  me,"  said  the  other,  "but  I  assure  you,"  added  he,  "that  the  person  who  is  the 
cause  of  all  this  pomp  and  magnificence,  is  the  man  1  envy  least."  Could  he  have 
realized  whit  that  rival  would  soon  suffer  from  the  losses  here  treated  of,  he  would 
not  have  envied  him  the  mure,  on  that  day  that  he  inherited  those  troubles,  with 
the   pieferment. 

The  signature  of  Archbishop  Seeker,  who  aided  and  endowed  Episcopal  churches 
in  America,  and  also  officiated  at  the  coronation  of  Lord  Granville,  Dunk,  Earl  of 
Halifax,  and  others  of  the  Lords  of  Council  annexed  to  the  order  for  his  produr.iation 
in  New' York,  like  that  of  Goldsboro  Banyer,  the  then  Deputy  Secretary,  may  be 
recalled  in  connection  with  our  early  history. 


I 


in  the  Revolution. 


47 


torians  appear  to  agree   in  failing  to  approve  of  the  man.     He 
was,     says    Belsham — apparently    an    impartial    writer  —  "a 
nobleman  hauirfity   in   his  manners,  contracted  in  his  capacity, 
despotic  in  his  sentiments,  and  mysterious  in  his  conduct,  who 
was  successfully  insinuating  himself  into  the  confidence  of  the 
Princess  of  Wales,  and  of  her  son."      Only  Sunday  intervened 
between  the  old  King's  death,  and  his  taking  his  oath  as  a  Privy 
Counsellor,  and   he  at  once  supplanted   his  daui^hter,    Princess 
Amelia,  in  the  Rangership  of  Richmond  Park.'s     As  the  Mentor 
of  tiie  Prince  he  became  a  rapid  meteor,  shooting  upward  from 
place  to  place,  from   that  position  to  Secretary  of  State,  then  to 
first  Lord  of  the  Treasury,  and   ruler  of  the    Ministry    of  the 
Nation,  of  the  Princess  Dowager,  and  of  his  Sovereign.      The 
latter    had    learned    to    thoroughly    accept    his  infallibility  and 
to  adopt  his   ideas,  which    culminated  in  his  misfortunes,  and 
loss    of  colonies   and   intellect,      [    )rd    Bute    drove   from    the 
counselsof  his  well  intending  master,  all  other  advisers,  including 
those  apparently  essential  to  his  prosperity.      Some    refused    to 
serve  as  his  colleagues,  others  were  supplanted  in  securing  place 
and  emolument  for  himself  and  his     creatures.      While  in  thus 
depriving  America  of  friends  in  the  Council,  familiar  with  their 
rights  and  necessities,  he  concentrated  power  in  himself.      It   is 
just  to  say,  that  he  pressed  the  war  against  the  Allies  on  the  con- 
tinent,  with  vigorous  success,  on   sea   and  land,   bringing  them 
to  their  knees,  and    negotiating  the   Peace  of  Fontainbleau  in 
November,  1762,  with  France,  Spain  and    Portugal,  by  which 
Canada  and  all  Louisiana  east  of  Mississippi  was  finally  ceded,  by 
France  ;   East  and  West  Florida  and  all  their  territory  east  and 
south-east  of  that  river,  bv  Spain.     In  the  haste  with  which  he 
availed  himself  of  these  successes,  securing  the  results  which  made 

•S  Possibly  to  please  her  sister-in-law. 


48 


Tories  or  Loyalists 


the  "Georgian  Era"  memorable,  he  immensely  increased  the  area 
uf  the  colonies.  He  neglected  to  provide  any  indemnity  for  Prus- 
sia as  a  faithful  ally,  from  her  position  liable  to  future  retaliation, 
and  won  those  caustic,  but  just  criticisms  with  which  that 
Frederick,  who  was  great  with  botli  pen  and  sword  —  after 
having  protected  his  then  exposed  condition  by  a  treaty  with 
Russia  and  Sweden,  has  embalmed  his  memory  in  his  CEuvres 
du  Roi  de  Prusse.  This,  and  the  forcing  through  with  great 
diffi'-ultv,  even  sustainc  1  bv  the  whole  power  of  the  Govern- 
-lent,  of  the  "  Cid  -  Bill,"  involving  a  direct  ta;i{  repugnant  to 
the  whole  people,  especially  to  the  "  Country  Party,"  and  the 
agricultural  interests,  and  so  establishing  a  precedent  for  those 
which  cost  the  recent  acquisitions  in  America,  and  their  base, 
were  the  crowning  results  of  a  power  which  he  suddenly 
resigned,  when — as  he  admitted  "  single  in  a  Cabinet  of  his  own 
creating,  with  no  soul  in  the  House  of  Lords  to  support  him, 
but  two  Peers."  All  of  this  unwise  exercise  of  authority 
appears  to  have  originated  in  the  Princess  Dowagc's  rejection, 
of  what  the  world  have  since  united  in  approving,  as  the 
wise  judgment  of  her  husband,  and  allowing  the  needv  schemer 
he  distrusted,  the  unrestricted  control  of  that  of  his  son,  particu- 
larly on  this  to  him,  fatal  question  of  direct  taxation. 

William  Hemy  Drayton — Chief  Justice  of  South  Caro- 
ling'.—  who  was  in  the  habit  of  engrafting  ardent  precepts  of 
patriotism  with  those  of  law,  in  his  charges  to  the  grand  jury 
and  also  of  contributing  his  salary  to  their  promotion,^'^  ex- 
pressed the  universal  sense  of  the  Colonies  in  one  of  these  de- 
livered on  the  15th  of  October,  1776. 

"  Never  were  a  people  more  wrapped   up  in  a   King  than 
the   Americans  were  in  George  III  in   1763.     They  revered 

■*  He  also  died  in  service,  a  member  of"  Contfress  at  Philadelphia,  Feb.  3,  1779. 


in  the  Revolut'on, 


49 

and  obeyed  the  British  Government  because  it  protected  them, 
they  fondly  called  Great  Britain  home,  but  from  that  time  her 
counsels  took  a  ruinous  turn  ;  ceasing  to  protect  they  sought  to 
•ruin  America,  the  Stamp  Act,  Declaratory  law  and  duties  upon 
Tea  and  other  articles,  at  once  proclaimed  the  injustice,  and  an- 
nounced to  Americans  that  they  had  but  little  room  for  hope, 
infinite  space  for  fear.     \x\  vain  they  petitioned  for  redress," 

But  England  needed  money  ;  and  the  means  as  proposed  to 
the  King,  by  Bute,  seemed  to  him  adequate  and  proper.  In  an 
efFort  to  add  to  her  revenue  the  ,£100,000,  Mr.  Grenville'?  his 
successor  as  first  Commissioner  of  the  Treasury,  proposed  to 
collect  it  by  the  Stamp  Act  in  1763.  and  so  partially  reimburse 
her  outlay  in  the  Seven  Tears'  War,  which  had  in  part  originated 
in  the  defence  of  her  Colonies.  In  this  she  thoroughly  aroused 
them,  already  exasperated,  to  a  forcible  resistance,  so  sig- 
nificant as  to  strengthen  the  hands  of  its  opponents  in  Par- 
liament sufficiently  to  effect  the  repeal  of  that  already  obsolete 
act. 

Even  then  there  was  a  chance  for  reconciliation,  for  which 
the  Colonies  still  steadily  petitioned  and  labored  through  their 
agents  and  friends.  But  the  fumes  of  the  '^  Cider  Bill  "  had 
influenced  the  royal  head,  he  persevered  in  his  policy,  and  the 
brilliant  Charles  Townshend,  as  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer, 

»7  In  the  course  of  the  debate  on  the  Cider  Bill,  Mr.  Grenviile,  annoyed  by  Mr 
Puts  n^Kule  of  .ts  subject,  replied  "The  Right  Honorable  Gen,lem..n  confplain; 
of  the  hardship  of  this  Tax;  why  does  he  not  tell  us  where  we  can  l..y  .,n„ther  tax 
instead  of  it  ?  repeating  two  or  three  times  emphatically,  "  Tell  me  -whtrc  you 
can  lay  another  tax.  Mr  Pitt  thus  unseasonably  appealed  to,  replied  in  a  musical 
tone,  in  the  words  of  a  fayurite  air,  "Gentle  Shepherd  tell  me  where  "  which 
amused  the  House  and  fixsd  the  soubrecjuet  on  Mr.  Grenyiile.  Mr  '  Belsham' 
who  related  It  in  1795,  did  not  yiew  it  even  then  as  wholly  a  joke  "little 
certainly.  '  says  he  "  did  this  minister  imagine  how  fertile  would  be  the  inyention  of 
his  i^uccessors,  or  how  thoroughly  subdued  by  time  and  custom  the  spirits  of  the 
people.         This  tax,  however,  was  also  soon  obsolete  from  non  usor. 


■■■I 


50 


Tories  or  Loyalists 


four  years  later  tssayed  to  increase  the  still  insufBcient  revenue, 
by  the  substitution  ot  a  more  remunerative  duty  upon  tea,  glass, 
paper  and  painters'  colors,  under  the  impression  that  the  form 
and  not  the  substance  of  the  taxation  was  unpalatable,  but  even 
when  limited  to  tea  alone,  its  attempted  enforcement  was.  as 
we  know,  the  immediate  cause  of  the  loss  of  her  Colonies,  at 
least  at  that  time. 

It  was  a  small  beginning  to  a  mighty  result,  the  spark  that 
caused  a  great  conflagration,  in  which,  in  spite  of  the  efforts  of 
Lord  North,  into  whose  hands  and  those  of  Lord  George 
Germain, —  whom  Belsham  emphasizes  as  "so  famous,  or 
rather  infamous,  under  his  former  appellation  of  Lord  George 
Sackville," — after  several  intermediate  unsuccessful  ministries 
it  fell,  to  make  the  final  efforts  to  extinguish  it  by  conciliation, 
too  long  delayed,  or  by  force  ;  and  so  to  officiate,  in  the  final 
dismemberment  of  a  portion  of  Great  Britain's  dominions, 
now  vastly  larger  and  greater,  than  the  whole  at  that  period. 
The  Tory  interests  were    then  remorselessly  burned. 

The  few  details  of  public  outlay  referred  to  in  these  old 
papers,  only  valuable  here  as  connected  with  the  subject,  are, 
it  will  te  seen,  trifling  items  of  the  then  immense  expendi- 
ture of  the  British  Government  in  that  fruitless  struggle  for 
a  small  additional  Revenue,  and  additions  to  her  indebtedness 
always  very  great,  but  easily  carried  in  ordinary  times  by  the 
appreciation  of  her  Funded  Debt,  as  a  security  by  the  world. 
From  these  fragments,  we  can  discern  the  continued  confidence 
of  the  Government  in  Sir  John  Johnson,  after  the  militarv  results 
elsewhere  referred  to,  and  that  he  was  entrusted  with  the  care 
and  control  of  his  former  allies  and  neighbors,  apparently  as  the 
superior   of  Col.  Guy  Johnson,  on  whom  the  Superintendency 


in   the  Revolution. 


51 


devolved  at  the  decease  of  Sir  William,  probably  so  arranged 
in  order  to  allow  him  to  devote  his  uninterrupted  attention  to  the 
care  of  an  estate,  then  only  second  to  that  of  Penn's  in  size,  and 
to  enjoy  it  as  a  landed  gentleman.  Perhaps,  as  a  clear  judge  of 
character  in  ordinary  cases,  he  distrusted  the  qualities  of  his  son 
to  assume  the  Superiiitendency  5  an  impression  which  seems 
oftener  to  prevail  with  an  elderly  man,  than  that  of  a  too  high 
appreciation  ot  the  ability  of  any  apparent  successor.  In  the 
event,  tate  did  not  free  him  from  the  cares  from  which  his 
fatli°r  may  have  hoped  to  relieve  him,  after  having  himself 
lo',g  borne  their  weight. 

It  may  be  noticed  that  the  following  order  providing  for  the  relief 
of  several  corps  ot  Loyalists  belonging  to  General  Burgoyne's 
Army,  and  other  Refugees,  deducts  the  value  of  provisions,  issued 
to  "  said  Corps  of  Royalists  and  others,  between  25th  October, 
1777"  —  three  months  after  the  conclusion  of  the  foregoing 
Diary  —  "ami  24th  April,  1778,"  and  probably  includes  the 
troops  it  treats  ot.  as  then  still  under  command. 

Guy  Carli'ton^  Knight  of  the  Bath^  General  and  Commander- 
in-chief  of  his  Majesty's  Forces  in  the  Province  of  .'Quebec  and 
frontiers  thereof, 

You  are  hereh\'  directed  and  lecriired  to  pay  or  cause  to  be 
paid  to  Sir  John  Johnson,  Har'  ,>r  to  his  assigns,  tlu-  sum 
of  six  thousand  four  huiulied  and  sixty  seven  pounds,  eleven 
shillings  and  six  pence,  sterling  dollars  at  tour  shillings  and 
eight  pence  each,  being  the  allowance  made  tor  the  present 
relief  of  several  corps  of  Royalists,  bclongintj  to  General  Bur- 
goyne's army,  and  sutidrv  other  persons  who  have  taken  refuge 
in  this  Province  from  the  Rebellious  Colonies,  as  [ler  annexed 
accounts  You  will  also  deduct  the  sum  of  one  thousand  and 
twenty-four  pounds,  six  shillings  and  eight  pence  sterling,  being 
the  amount  of  provisions  issued  to  the  said  corps  of  Royalists 
and  others,  between  25th  October,  1777,  and  24th  April,  1778. 


52 


Tories  or  Loyalists 


And  this,  with  the  acquittances  of  the  said  Sir  John  Johnson, 
Bt.,  or  his  assigns,  shall  be  your  sufficient  Warrant  and  Dis- 
charge. 

Given    under    my  hand,   at    Quebec,  this   29th    of 
April.  1778. 

Guv  Carleton.'^ 

To  John  Powell,  Esq., 

Dy.  P.iymaster  General, 

His  Majesty's  forces  at  Quebec. 

This    appointment  —  d.ited   five    months    after  the    virtual 

close  of  the  war  at   Yorktown,  although  eight  before  the  nego- 

=«  The  last  English  commander  in-chief  in  her  lost  colonies.  By  escaping  from 
captivity  at  Monticil  in  1775,  passing  it  night,  with  muffled  oars,  throUf;h  his  ad- 
versaries' forces,  throwing  himself  into  yui-liec,  and  rallying  its  fec^bie  garrison,  he 
saved  the  city  and  deprived  the  adventurous  Montgomery  of  his  victory.  The 
jealousy  of  Lord  George  Germ  line  is  said  to  have  confined  his  service  to  Canada, 
and  deprived  him  of  the  commanu  of  the  expedition  led  by  Burgoyne.  His  hiyal 
endurance  of  this  slight,  and  his  cordial  assistance  with  the  favorite  of  the  hour, 
won  for  him  Burgoyne's  recorded  appreciation.  General  Burgoyne  was  apparently  a 
man  of  ability,  and  hid  been  a  successful  soldier  in  Portugal.  He  was  a  social 
celebrity  also,  and  owed  his  progress  to  family  influence.  His  devotion  topleasure  is 
charged  to  iiave  nclayed  him  —  while  in  fict  probably  waiting  for  the  promised 
cooperation  of  General  Howe  —  when  celerity  of  movement  appears  to  have  offered 
the  only  chance  for  either   advance  or  escape. 

It  has  also  been  claimed,  mainly  by  those  not  present,  that  his  delay  near  Tort  Edward, 
to  procure  horses  tor  a  very  heavy  artillery  and  train,  increased  the  need  ot  provisions, 
all  of  which  the  disasters  of  the  detachments  on  his  flanks  at  Fort  Stanwix  and 
Bennington,  prevented  his  securing,  while  they  crippled  an  originally  small  force, 
to  swing  so  far  from  its  base.  It  was  also  asserted,  that  he  should  have  held  Fort 
Edward^  prepared  to  advance  when  he  had  satisfactory  intelligence  from  below,  or 
even  to  retreat  to  Can  ida  5  an  apparent  answer  would  be,  that  he  had  but  five  days 
provisions  when  he  yielded  ;  inconsi  terable  lor  a  siege  and  had  no  knowledge  of 
Clinton's  small  supplies,  sent  to  Albany.  That  the  whole  country  encouraged  by 
those  disasters,  was  rising,  and  troops  being  hurried  forward,  while  his  own  were 
daily  reduced;  and  that  he  was  in  effect  captured  before  he  surrendered.  It  was 
only  at  the  end  of  a  century,  that  General  Howe's  failure  to  advance  to  his  aid  was 
accounted  for,  by  an  explanation,  written  at  the  time  by  Lord  Sbelbune,  and  pub- 
lished by  his  appreciative  grandson,  in  hij  life  in  1875,  by  which  it  appears  that 
Lord  George  Germaine,  also  a  man  of  pleisure,  being  engaged  to  dine  in  the  country, 
signed  the  orders  tor  Burgoyne,  but  those  for  Gen.  Howe  requiring  to  be  rewritten, 
were  to  be  sent  to  him,  for  his  signature  there.  The  packet  unexpectedly  sailed 
with  only  the  former,  and  so  produced  the  complication,  while  the  latter  were  found 
pigeonholed  in  the  offiiC  of  that  valu  ible  public  servant,  years  afterwards,  and  so 
America  gained  a  battle  only  second  in  value  from  its  results.  This  blunder,  as  many 
other  explanations  just  to  that  officer,  and  perhaps  the  best  conception  of  the  good  and 


in  the  Revolution. 


53 


tiation  of  the  Preliminary  Peace  —  creating  him  Superin- 
tendent General  of  all  Indians  at  Quebec  and  the  frontier 
Provinces,  including  his  old  neighbors  four  of  the  Six  Nations  — 
might  imply  that  his  hopes  as  a  soldier  had  ended,  with  those 
for  the  restoration  of  his  inherited  domaiti.  The  evidence 
however  exists  of  his  continued  interests  in  the  difFerences  with 
the  Indians,  still  occupying  the  territorv  claimed  bv  the  United 
States,  proving  his  later  hostility. 

Sir  :  VVhitk  F^AL^,  i8  March,  1782. 

The  Iving  has  been  graciously  pleased  to  appoint  vou 
SuDi'iintendefit  General,  and  Inspector  General  of  the  Six 
Nations    of    Indians    and    their    ConTederates    and   also    of  the 

evil  ill  liis  cluractcr,  luvc  also  been  aliorJe.l  to  leailera  by  tlic  iliu.;hters  o\  a  more 
fortunate  General,  hi,^  son  Sir  John  Burgoyne,  who  are  now  residing  in  Hampton 
Court,  in  the  "political  anJ  Military  Sketches  "  iiuhTbhed  by  their  inspiration,  by  Mr. 
Koiiblanque  in  1876.  ^lle•^e,  with  the  "  Memoirs  ot  tiie  Marquisof  Rockingham," 
edited  by  J.ord  Albemarle  inlH52,  "'I'he  v.ones|)ondenee  ot  the  Uuke  ot  Bedlori)  and 
Lord  Chatham,"  "The  Evelyn's  m  America,  "eontributcd  by  |.  D.  Scull,  Oxford, 
1881,  Judge  Jones'  •'  History  of  New  Vork  in  the  Revolution,"  and  the  Gates 
papers,  contributed  by  Dr.  T.  A.  Emmett  lo  the  ■'  Magazine  ot  American  History," 
are  all  among  the  recent  proofs  ot  the  mellowing  inriuence  of  Time  upon  History. 
There  appear  lo  be  many  cointidences  in  the  career  of  Burgoyne  and  that  of 
Gates,  identitied  as  they  were  in  service  and  in  eventual  destiny.  Both  typej  of  the 
conventional  gentleman,  brilliant  and  epigrammatic  with  the  pen  and  audacious  with 
the  sword.  Kqu.illy  open  to  a  generous  impulse,  the  error  of  self  appreciation  and 
1  desire  for  rapid  glory,  boih  based  some  impression  of  infallibility  on  the  rules  of 
technical  education  and  the  prestige  ot  former  service.  Both  appear  in  history  tit 
subjects  to  point  the  moral  that  while  success  is  self  recording,  misfortune  commands 
its  equal  riglit  iii  a  reliable  record.  With  [)robably  less  natural  ability  than  either, 
Gen.  Carleton  combined  with  courage  and  deci^ion  the  additional  requisite  of  business 
capacity.  He  appears  to  have  received  in  all  history,  that  which  these  brilliant  co- 
temporaries  sought  tor  and  failed  to  achieve,  a,-  a  reward  for  his  unassuming  useful- 
ness and  admitted  humanity.  It  ha  been  considered  whether  there  would  have  been  4 
Saratoga  in  our  roll  of  victories,  had  that  active  commander  led  the  erpedition. 
It  was  his  singular  'ortune  to  serve  in  America  through  the  svar,  to  h' Id  Quebec 
at  its  outset,  and  surrender  New  Yoik  at  its  coKClusion.  After  the  peace  he  became 
Lord  Dorchester  and  remained  in  Canada  as  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  British 
forces.  Th"  eccentric  General  Charles  Lee,  another  soldier  of  the  school  of  Bur- 
goyne and  Gates,  influenced  by  his  too  little  faith  in  Washington  as  a  soldier — after 
the  attempt  to  hold  I'ort  Washington — and  to(i  much  in  a  sense  of  his  own  educated 
superiority,  attempted  to  treat,  for  a  hasty  completion  of  the  war,  as  Dr.  George  H. 
Moore  lias  shown,  vvitli  in  indiriduality  too  intense,  to  conceive  its  exercise  treason- 
able. 


54 


Tories  or  Loyalists 


Indians  in  the  Province  of"  Quebec,  and  in  the  Provinces  lying 
on  the  Frontiers  thereof. 

lam  happy  to  inform  you  of  this  Mark  of  His  Majesty's  Favor 
and  Confidence  and  as  it  conveys  to  you  most  authentically 
His  Royal  Approbation  of  your  former  services,  it  will,  I  am  sure, 
impress  you  with  the  warmest  Sentiments  of  Duty  and  Gratitude, 
and  excite  you  to  exert  your  utmost  endeavors  to  render  your 
present  appointment  beneficial  to  the  Public,  by  establishing  a 
strict  economy  through  all  branches  of  your  Department,  which 
will  be  the  best  means  of  recommending  yourself  to  His 
Majestys  future  Favor  and  Attention.  You  will  see  by  the 
terms  of  your  warrant  that  you  are  to  follow  such  Orders  and 
instructions  as  you  shall  receive  from  the  Commander-in-Chief 
of  His  Majestvs  Forces  in  the  Provinces  of  Quebec,  I  have 
signified  to  General  Haldimand  His  Majestys  Pleasure  that 
he  should  make  you  such  Allowances  for  vour  Services  and  Ex- 
penses as  he  shall  judge  adequate  and  proper.  I  have  therefore 
only  to  signify  to  you  His  Majestys  Commands  that  you  do 
with  all  possible  expedition  return  to  Quebec  and  take  upon 
you  the  exercise  of  the  very  important  office  to  which  you  are 
appointed  and  immediately  after  your  arrival  address  yourself  to 
General  Haldimand  or  the  Commander-in-Chiet  of  His  Majesty's 
Forces  who  will  give  you  orders  for  your  further  proceedings, 
which  you  are  in  all  cases  to  pav  the  most  exact  and  punctual 
obedience.  Sir,  Your  Most  Obedient 

humble  servant. 

Sir  John   Johnson,  Bar.3°  W.  Ellis.^9 

But,  when  at  this  interval  there  arose  a  report,  that  the  Amer- 
icans were  advancing  to  carry  their  successes  into  Canada, 
and  some  military  movements  towards  the  frontier  —  probably 
merely  demonstrations  —had  given  it  color,  we  find3'  Sir  Ferdi- 

=9  He  occupied   many   positions  of  honor  and   trust ;   was  a  member  of  the  Privy 
Council,  and  of  Parliament  for  Weymouth,  and  created  Lord  Mendip  in  1794. 

30  Sir    John  had  already  performel    similar  duties  probably  with   local  rank.      He 
was  at  this  time  in  his  thirty-sixth  year. 

3'  Riedesel  Memoirs. 


in  the  Revolution, 


SS 


nand  Haldimand,  commanding  in  Canada,  alive  to  the  danger, 
communicating  to  Baron  von  Riedesel,  in  command  at  Sorel, 
in  a  letter  dated  Quebec,  February  13,  1783,  that  he  had 
despatched  a  messenger  to  the  "  Chevalier  Johnson,"  to  send 
"five  or  six  of  the  most  active,  and  expert  Mohawks,  to  watch 
the  road  from  Albany  to  West  Point,"  and  suggesting  that  he, 
"  with  his  savages  and  light  batailion,  fall  back  a  few  miles,  even 
about  Point  au  Fer,"  which  shows  him  at  that  date  again  in 
active  service. 

The  one  thousand  pounds  a  year  furnished  him,  liberal  pay  at 
that  time,  no  doubt,  if  poorly  compensating  tor  his  own  lost  rev- 
enue, attests  that  the  outlays  of  his  government,  had  not  yet 
been  checked  by  its  reverses.  VVe  can  gather  from  another 
paper,  that  he  had  been  engaged  at  that  time  on  picket  duty, 
in  the  neighborhood  of  his  old  horne,  scouting,  having 
soldiers  and  scouts  "  piloted,"  secreting  and  procuring  intelli- 
gence, all  incident  to  border  expeditions,  probably  entrusted  to 
him  from  his  knowledge  of  localities  and  perhaps  involving  some 
of  those  inhumanities,  which  tradition  have  laid  to  his  account. 
For  fourteen  months  of  this  service,  General  Haldimand  appears 
to  have  compensated  him  at  the  rate  of  ten  shillings  sterling  a 
day,  u  liberal  allowance  also,  at  existing  values,  but  implying 
that  he  was  not  then  under  regular  military  pay. 

Accounts  of  contingent  expenses  incurred  by  Sir  John 
Johnson,  Baronet,  on  account  of  the  Government  by  orders 
of  His  Excellency  General  Haldimand  in  sundry  services  be- 
tween the  25  Dec,  1780,  and  the  13  March,  1782. 

1781. 

Aug.  5.  To  cash  to  Michael  Lett  and  party  for 
their  Services  and  Expenses  on  a 
Scout  to  Tryon  County £11    13  4 

Sept.  ID.  To  do.  to  Sergeant  Haines  and  party 
for  their  services,  etc.,  on  a  Scout 
to  the  County  of  Tryon 15    10  O 


56  Tories  or  Loyalists 

1782. 

Nov.  10.  To  Peter  Prunner,  late  of  the  Albany 
Bush,  in  the  County  of  Tryon,  for 
Piloting  soldiers  and  scouts  em- 
ployed in  the  service  and  supplying 
them  with  Provisions  between  the 
16th  June,  1779,  and  the  28th 
Septemhei,  1782 36      8  O 

Dec.  15.  To  do.  to  Win.  Parker,  Sen.,  for  Provi- 
sions and  Surveying,  and  procuring 
Intelligence  and  assisting  Scouts 
Provisions  between  the  15th  Sep- 
tember, 1778,  and   the  25th  Aug., 

'781 30 

"    20.  To  do.   to  Wm.    Kennedy,  for  sundry 

services  in  secreting  and   procuring 

intelligence   and    Assisting    Scouts 

with   Provisions  between  the    15th 

Sept.,    1778,  and    the    25th    Aug., 

'7^'---. ; 35    15   6 

To  cash  paid  to  the  late  Samuel  Mc- 
Kay, Esq.,  for  Provisions  overpaid 

for  by  him  for  his  Corps 39    15   6 

To  an  allowance  from  his  F^xcellency 
General  Haldimand  for  Extra  Ser- 
vice from  the  28th  Dec,  1780  to 
the  13th  March,  1782,  inclusive  at 
los.   sterling  per  day  £222 237    17    I 

Currency. £406    19   5 

John  Johnson. 

Other  papers  refer  merely  to  routine  duty;  in  them  "  Molly 
Brant  "  is  recalled  as  a  pensioner,  and  Colonels  Guy  Johnson, 
Butler,  and  John  Campbell,  all  familiar  names  in  partisan  war- 
fare, as  connected  still  with  the  government  service. 

Receipt  of  Lieut.  Col.  John  Campbell. 

Received  from  Sir  John  Johnson,  Baronet,  Superintendent 
General  and   Inspector  General  of  Indian  Affairs,  Two  Thou- 


in  the  Revolution, 


S7 


sand  and  fifty- seven  Hounds,  Thirteen  Shills  and  Eight  pence 
Halifax  Currency  being  the  amount  ot  Disbursements  paid  by 
me  for  the  Indian  Department  under  my  direction  from  the 
25th  of  March  to  the  24th  September,  1783,  per  acc't  and 
vouchers  dehvered  to  him  by 

John  Campbell. 
X2057   '3  ^  ^V- 

^Subsistence  wanted  for  the  Officers  of  the  Six  Nations  De- 
partments trom  25  March  to  24  Sept.,  1783,  Inclusive. 


Rank 

One  Col  c'i:  Su|)e 
intendents  (  Pay 
rec'd    trom    tlit- 
General  to  Dec. 

24  next) 

One      Deputy     in 

Canada 

Two     Lieutenantb 
(Clement         & 

Maj;in)    

One  Surj;eon  Mate 

One   Clerk    .  .     .  . 

One     Coni:iiissarv 

(Moses     Ilibitt) 

Invalided      and 

discharged       .  . 

One    Issued    as    a 

Voluntcer(John 

Service) 

One  Interpreter 
(Le  Curagine) 
Invalided..  .  . 
Catharine  Hare 
widow  of  the 
late  Lieut  Hare 
Pension    .  ,  . 


ComiTien 
cing 


25  .March 
do 


do 
do 
do 


bnduii 


14  Sept 
do 


do 
do 
do 


No.  of 
Days 


Hate  per  day 


do 


do 


do 


do 


do 


do 


do 


184 

iii4 


i,S4 
184 
184 


184 


184 


184 


'84 


a  dollar 
do 


.Sew   Vork 
£      .     d 


Sterling 
X.     t     d 


300 
100 


•47     4 
73   12 


6j.  York  Cy    55     4 


a  dollar 


6j.  York  C> 


a  dollar 


73   12 


55     4 


73   >i 


478  o  8 


10 

479  I   + 


689  I  4 
Col.  Guy  Johnson. 
Amt  of  Lieut  Col  Butlers  Deputy  Agents  return   hereto  annexed  paid 

by  his  draft  on  the  Superintendent  General «7I14   4. 

Two  Thousand  four  hundred  &  2  pounds  \.    .  .  ,  £i  4.01    r   t 

E.  E.  ^utbec  25  October  1783.  G.  JoHNioH. 

£689     I   4   Col    Johnson 
171  3    4  4  Lt  Col  Butler 


2402  5   8  Sterling 


58 


Tories  or  Loyalists 


Received  from  Sir  John  Johnson.  Baronet,  his  Majestys 
Super  Intendent  General  &  Inspector  General  for  Indian  Affairs 
in  North  America  the  sum  of  £68q  \s  ^d  sterling  for  my  own 
and  a  Deputys  Salary,  the  pay  of  officers  and  others  employed  in 
his  Majestys  service  in  the  Indian  Department  under  my  Super- 
intendency,  from  the  25  March  to  24  Sept.,  1783,  and  I  certifie 
that  the  said  Sir  John  Johnson  also  [)ay  the  sum  of  .±^1713  4^ 
4^/ for  the  pay  of  Lieut.  Col.  Butler,  Deputy  Agejit.  that  of  the 
officers  and  others  employed  in  his  Majestys  service  in  the 
Indian  Department  in  the  distiict  of  Niaiiara  as  per  the  above 
list  &c,  G.  Johnson, 3* 

Col.  y  Supt.  of  the  Six  Nations. 

Montreal,  4  /August.,  1784. 
Sir  :   Please  pay  to  Mr.  Charles  McCormick  or  Order  Sixty 
Eight  Pounds  twelve  &  sixpence  currency  being  the  amount  of 
his   pay  from   25  March  to  the  24  Sc-ptember  1784  as   Clerk  & 
Commissary  of  Indian  Stores  for  the  District  of  Detroit, 

John  Johnson. 
Mr.  R.  Dobie,  Merchant. 

X54  15J.  N.  Y.  Currency.     Cataragui,  20  Jugust.,  i  784. 
Sir  :      At  sight  please  pay  Mr.  Robert  Hamilton  or  order  the 
sum  of  Fifty-four  pounds  fifteen  shillings  New  York  Currency 
being   the   amount  of  my  half  pav  up  to  the  24  of  last  March 
which  pass  to  account  as  per  advice  from. 

Sir,  Your  verv  bumble  Servant, 

Ebenezer  Allen. 
To  Sir  John  Johnson  Knt 

&  Baron  Knight  (sic)   Montreal. 
Mr.  Dobie  will  please  pay  the  above  draft, 

J.  Johnson. 

For  £50  Currency.  Montreal,  20  Jugust,  1784. 

Sir  :  Please  pay  to  Mrs.  Mary  Brant?^  or  order  Fifty  pounds 
Halifax  Currency  in  part  of  her  pension  from  Government 
from  23  Oct.,  83  &  22  Sept.  1784. 

John  Johnson, 

To  Mr,  Richard  Dobie,  Montreal, 

S«  Col.  Guy  Johnson,  nephew,  son-in-law,  some  time  secretary  and  named  as 
successor  to  Sir  William    Johnson. 

33  The  widow  of  Joseph  Brant  [Thayendanegea]  who  survived  her  husband  thirty 
years. 


in  the  Revoluiiofi. 


59 


London,  Dec.  24,  1784. 
Reccivttl  from  Sir  John  Johnsoti,  Baronet,  His  Majesiys 
Supeiintenck'nt  General  and  Inspector  General  of  Indian  Attairs 
in  North  America,  Three  Hundred  Pounds  Sterling  for  my 
Salary  as  Superintendent  of  the  Six  Indian  Nations  and  their 
Allies  from  25  June  to  the  24  Dec,  1784,  Inclusive. 
£300.  ,    (i.  Johnson,^'* 

Crjl,  ij  Superintendent  of  the  Six  Nations. 

A  letter  from  Major  General  Hope,  Commander-in-Chief 
&c.,  to  Sir  John  is  apparently  interesting,  as  throwing  further 
light  on  a  restless  escapade,  which  is  referred  to  in  the  lite  of 
that  early  representative  of  the  possihilities  and  effect  of  educa- 
tion, even  upon  a  savage  mind.  He  had  determined  at  this 
time  to  seek  in  person,  the  indemnity  for  the  losses  of  his  people, 
which  Sir  John  —  who  wished  to  prevent  his  absence,  at  what 
he  considered  an  important  mon\ent.  had  failed  to  secure  in  his 
own  recent  visit. 

^UEBKC,  AW  9,  1785. 
Dear  Sir  : 

I  had  the  honor  to  receive  your  letter  of  the  6  by  express 
last  night  at  ten  o'clock  but  too  late  I  am  sorry  to  tell  you,  by 
two  days  for  producing  the  effect  desired  ;  Joseph^^  naving  come 
to  the  resolution  suddenly  of  taking  passage  in  the  Packet 
which  sailed  on  Sunday  at  eleven  o'clock  in  the  forenoon  ; 
having  been  made  to  believe  as  he  said  that  the  Madona  was  not 
a  safe  conveyance  from  having  so  few  hands,  but  rather,  I  am 
apt  to  believe  from  some  suspicion  that  he  had  entertained  of 
being  disappointed  in  getting  away  at  all  if  he  deferred  it  till  the 
last  Trip,  or  perhaps  artfully  wishing  to  avoid  the  knowledge 
of  your  sentiments  which  he  might  expect  that  the  arrival  of 
David  at  Montreal  would  produce.  In  short,  my  dear  Sir  John, 
he  was  bent  upon  going  and  is  off'  notwithstanding  my  different 
attempts  to  dissuade  him — oti'ered  in  such  a  manner  at  first  as 

34  An  interesting  letter  from  Col.  Guy  Johnson  to  Sir  William,  too  late  for  inser- 
tion here,  will  be  found  in  Appendix  A. 

35  Captain  Joseph  Brant  —  Thayendanegea. 

8 


6o 


Tories  or  Loyalists 


not  rn  (.'ivc  him  surprize,  and  at  last  without  disguise  of  his  acting 
coiHiarv  to  V'uis  ;iiui  my  wislies  and  inclir.atioiis  —  aU  however 
to  no  purpose.  I  have  therefore  with  niuch  regret  to  return 
you  the  letter  a<idiessed  to  Joseph,  vour  other  Packet  to  the 
Dt  p.  l\iyniaster  General  was  sent  to  him. 

I  congiatulaie  you  on  the  ariival  of  the  Dallis  with  your 
things  —  she  got  up  yesieiday  but  has  brought  me  no  Dis- 
patches of  any  consetjuence.  'I'hat  we  must  go  on  with  the 
Indi.in  business  as  conci  rted  —  keeping  tfiem  in  good  humour  as 
much  as  possible  and  preaching  un  patience — &  hrmness  — 
but  by  no  means  encouraging  thrir  breaking  out.  As  to 
anything  you  may  think  piofiei  to  do  to  retain  those  Chiefs  & 
oileis  of  influence,  or  to  tHcct  these  purposes  above  mentioned, 
I  sli.ill  most  readily  acquiesce  in.  VVith  respect  to  the  tools 
you  speak  of  tliat  were  bv  mistake  inserted  in  the  Loyalists 
Invoice,  orders  sball  be  given  in  consequence  of  your  repre- 
sentation to  this  eflect  to  delivei  up  the  remainder  of  tium  not 
actually  issued  for  the  use  of  the  Indians  on  your  order -,  as 
likewise  to  comply  with  your  requisition  for  the  same  purpose 
to  (ieliver  any  otht  r  articles  out  of  the  stores  reserved  for  the 
use  of  the  Loyalists,  being  perfectly  convinced  that  from  vour 
equal  desire  to  supply  and  knowledge  of  the  wants  of  both, 
that  no  p.irtial  use  will  ever  be  m;ide  of  such  discretionary 
latitude  lodged  with  you. 

I  rt-turn   you   man\'    thanks  and   am   most   flattered  by  your 
obliging  professions  and    wishes  to  myself  —  request    you    will 
make  my  respects  to  Ladv  Johnson  and  Mrs.  Claus,  and 
I  am  Dear  Sir  with  unfeigned  regard 

Your  very  faithful  and  obedient  humble  servant 
Sir  John  Johnson,  Bart.,  Henry  Hope.3^ 

Superintendent  General,  &c,  &c. 

Joseph  Brant  here  referred  to,  is  generally  recalled  by  the 
striking  incidents  of  his  life. 

A  pure  blooded  Onondaga,  the  son  of  a  chief,  but  educated 
by    Sir   William's   care   »t    Dr.   Wheelock's   celebrated    Moor 

36  General  Hope  was  in  America  in  1775  as  Major  of  the  44th  Foot  (Gen.  Aber- 
erombie's  Regt.),  and  had  seen  much  serviLC  there. 


♦ 


m  the  Revolution, 


6i 


} 


school,  he  proved  an  apt   scholar,  soon  fitted  as  an   interpreter 
to  Dr.  Charles  Jeftry  Smith,  a  self  sustaining  young  missionary. 

Gallantly  protecting  him  when  attacked  by  the  Indians,  and 
performing  all  his  duties  satisfactorily  he  won  at  this  period  the 
testimony  of  Rev.  Samuel  Kirkland,  "  he  conducted  himself  so 
much  like  a  Christian,  and  -i  soldier,  thit  he  gained  great  est  'ern." 

Later,  he  intcresied  himst-lf  in  the  work  of  th-?  "  Society  for 
the  Propagation  of  the  Gosp;'l  in  Foreign  inrts  "  an.l  labored 
with  them  for  the  tivilixation  of  his  people. 

Wlien  becoming  the  chief  of  the  Si.v  Nations  he  vvii-Uk-J  a 
great  authority  ami  cociperated  with  Sir  William  Johnson,  to 
whom  he  became  allied,  as  well  bv  affinity  as  by  gratitude.  In 
their  close  association  he  doubtless  developed  the  appreciation 
of  the  position  of  his  people,  and  the  capacity  to  vindicate  it  with 
an  able  pen.-'^  He  visited  England  in  1775,  and  again  as  that  let- 
ter shows  at  the  end  of  the  war, attracting  distinguished  attention 

I?  Thib  li'tti-i  .1;  to  the  riylits  nt"  his  people  ami  \m  own  appreciation  or"  honorable 
dealing  is  .111  fxamplp. 
Sir:  Nassau,  30  Decfmber,  1794. 

Your  letters  ot"  the  ijtli  ic  iotii  November,  '94,  tiom  Koi)ondaigu;i,  I  luve  now 
before  me  and  have  to  s.iy,  that  at  all  of  our  meetings  during  tlie  whole  <if  last 
summer,  our  tiioughts  were  iolely  bent  on  fixing  a  boundary  line  between  rlie  con- 
federate Indians  and  the  United  States,  so  as  that  peace  might  be  established  on  a 
solid  basis,  for  which  reason  we  pointed  out  the  line  we  did,  well  knowini;  the  justnes» 
of  it  and  that  it  would  be  ratify 'd  by  the  whole  Indian  confederacy. 

As  un  individual  I  must  reirtct  to  find  thai  ihe  Boundary  so  f'ointed  'ut  /i,is  noiu 
been  abanduiied,  the  establishw\t^  of  which  !  am  well  convinced  would  hai't  been  the 
means  of  bringing  about  a  lasting  and  permanent  peace.  TAit  object  so  earnestly  to  be 
desired  has  e-vcr  made  me  exei  t  every  nerve,  wishing  for  nothing  more  than  mutual 
justice.  This  line  you'll  rerolltct  was  ojfercd  to  Go-vernor  St.  Clair  at  Muskin'-um,  and 
notwithstanding  the  two  successful  campaigns  of  the  Indians  after  this,  I  still  adhered  to  the 
same  and  still  do,  this  /  hope  will  satisfy  you  that  my  luish  e-ver  was  for  Peace,  the  offer 
made  ivai  rejected  by  Air.  Sr  Clair,  and  xvhat  the  consequences  has  been  you  -well  kno'W, 
I  should  be  snrry  if  s':ur  effort',  were  croivncd  with  no  better  success,  as  your  exertions 
I  hope  are  not  influenced  by  similar  moti-ves  with  his.  You  must  also  recollect  that  I 
differed  e-ven  with  my  friends  respecting  this  Boundary,  and  to  the  two  last  messages  you 
then  received  my  name  was  to  neither  0}  them,  because  I  thought  them  too  unreasonable, 
this  made  me  take  more  pains  and  trouble  to  bring  the  Indians  and  you  to  an  understand- 
ing than  I  was  under  any  obligation  to  do — otherwise  than  humanity  dictated  tome, 
Aavitig  nothing  but  our  mutual  interest  in  view,  and  as  to  Politics  I  study  them  not,  my 


62 


Tories  or  "Loyalists 


partially  from  his  reputation,  but  also  as  the  chief  of  the  best 
known  tribes  of  the  American  Savages,  a  lion  worthy  of  ex- 
hibition. He  probably  realized  then,  as  he  appears  to  have  done, 
in  all  the  different  duties  he  performed,  as  their  ruler  and  protec- 
tor, their  inferiority  to  the  white  man  from  the  want  of  that 
education,  which  made  him  sensitive  as  to  their  ignorance. 

His  visit,  however,  was  marked  with  much  appreciation. 
The  King  received  him,  with  good  humor, even  when  he  refused 
to  kiss  his  hand,  but  ofFeied  that  mark  of  homage  to  the  Queen. 
The  Duke  of  Northumberland,  Lords  Dorchester  and  Hastings 
and  General   Stewart — the   son  of  Bute  —  who  had  all  served 

prituiple  is  founded  on  juslicc,  and  justice  is  all  1  ivis/i  Joty  „-;.u'  r.vvcr  shall  I  exert 
myself  on  heluilf  of  any  nation  or  nations,  let  their  ofinioti  of  me  he  •uhat  it  iviil,  unless 
I  plainly  stc  they  are  fust  and  sincere  in  their  pursuits,  doing  -what  in  every  re.-pect  to 
justice  way  hclnnir.  [■p'hen  I  perccii'C  such  are  the  sentiments  of  a  People  no  endea-vors 
shall  he  tuantin^  on  my  part  to  bring  neighbors  to  a  good  understanding. 

I  must  ag.iin  repeat  that  I  am  extremely  sorry  this  Boundary  so  long  since  pointed 
out,  should  have  been  abandoned,  it  being  an  i  bject  ot  such  magnitude  and  which 
much  depends  on  the  whole  Indian  confederacy  being  interested,  I  should  therefore 
have  supp>£ed  it  would  have  been  mce  lor  our  mutual  interest  rnd  would  have  had 
a  better  ett'ect,  to  hav;  dealt  upon  a  larger  scale,  th.-n  within  tlie  small  compass  of 
the  Five  Nations,  the  meeting  being  intended  solely  to  talk  over  the  business 
of  the  Boundary  and  tiien  to  have  acquainted  tiie  whole  confederacy  with  what 
had  passed,  so  that  something  rinal  could  have  been  determined  on  as  all  that 
part  of  the  country  is  common  to  the  whole.  You  say  on  your  part  everything  has 
been  openly  and  fairly  explained  and  that  you  shall  be  disappointed  if  the  Chiefs  do 
not  acknowledge  your  candour,  I  cm  for  my  own  part  form  no  opinion,  whether  it 
is  so  or  not,  being  perfectly  ii^norant  of  luhat  has  passed,  but  ever  looi  upon  it  that 
business  fairly  transaitcd  should  he  adhered  to  as  sacred.  And  that  you  are  still  ready 
to  make  peace  with  the  Western  Nations,  this  has  made  me  say  much  about  the 
Boundary  line,  in  order  that  peace  and  friendship  might  be  e^tablished  betwee.i  you, 
this  obliges  me  to  say  they  ought  to  have  been  included  in  this  treaty  and  to  have 
been  consulted  with  as  well  as  those  who  were  there,  they  being  equally  interested 
with  the  Six  Nations  as  to  this  line.  As  to  the  British  they  are  an  independent  nation, 
as  well  as  the  Unittd  Utates  or  the  Indian  Nations  and  of  course  act  for  thcmsel-ves  as 
all  0' her  IVhite  nations  do.  My  mentioning  in  my  letter  to  you  that  I  was  sorry  Mr. 
Johnson  was  looked  upon  as  a  Spy,  was  because  I  knew  the  Five  Nations  so  often 
erred  in  their  transactions  with  the  White  I'eople,  it  being  myself  in  person  from 
the  wish  of  thj  Indians  that  requested  fvlr.  Johnson  should  go  to  the  Treaty  in  con- 
sequence of  which  request  he  was  permitted.  I  was  well  aware  at  the  same  time  of 
the  reception  he  would  meet  with,  as  we  are  an  independent  People  I  ever  thought 
our    Council    should    be    private,  but   must   at  the  same  time   say,   we  have   an   un- 


in  the  Revolution. 


63 


in  America,  greeted  him  as  a  brother  veteran  and  Lords  War- 
wick and  Percy,  and  Dr.  Johnson's  James  Boswell,  ordered  his 
portraits,  the  last,  a  high  testimony  that  he  was  a  "  Hon." 

Yet  doubtless  he  realized  his  own  questionable  position, 
when  seeking  any  trust,  with  his  cultivated  nature  disguised  by 
the  face  of  a  savage.  The  accompanying  letter  of  Washing- 
ton  displays  the  general  want  of  confidence  in  them,  by  all 
who  were  prejudiced  against  his  race. 

He  adhered  to  the  British  Government  throughout  the  war, 
and  after  the  Treaty  of  Peace,  in  which  no  provision  was  made 
as  to  the  territory  of  his  people,  struggled  to  retain  what  they 
had  formerly  possessed.     The  indefinitene^s  of  the  Treaty  line, 

doubted  richt  to  admit  at  our  Councils  who  we  please  -  ot  course  the  United  State 
have    It  optional  whether  they  wiil    treat  or   not  with   anv  Nation   or   Nation,  when 
Foreign  Agents  are  present. 

You  seem  to  think  in  your  letter  of  the  20th  that  the  Senekas  are  the  Nation  most 
concerned  in  the  I  rusts  in  question  agreeai.le  to  the  lines  you  point  out.  At  the  dilfer- 
ent  Treaties  held  since  the  year  '83  I  allow  the  Senekas  from  their  proceedings  seemed 
to  be  the  only  Nation  concerned  in  that  country,  although  the  whole  Five  Nations 
have  an  e>,ual  right,  one  with  the  other,  the  country  having  been  obtained  by  the 
joint  exertions  m  war  with  a  Powerful  Nation  formerly  living  southward  of  BuValo 
Creek  called  Eries  and  another  N..ti,.n  then  living  at  Tioga  Point,  so  that  by  our 
successes  all  the  country  between  that  and  the  Mississippi  became  the  joint  property 
of  thehve  Nations,  all  other  nations  now  inhabiting  this  great  Tract  of  Country 
was  allowed  to  settle  by  the  Five  Nations.  ^ 

This  1    hope  will  convince  you  that  the  Mohawks  have  an  equal  claim  and   riirht 
to  receive  in  proportion  with  the  others  of  the  Five  Nations,  but  as  I  am  ignorant  of 
the  Transaction,  knowing  nothing  of  what  has  passed  and  what  was  the  result  of  the 
Ireaty    must  therefore  deter  saying  anything  further  on  the  subject  until  I  know  the 
particulars,  whuh  I    hope  will    be  ere   long.      As    to  the  others  of  the   Five  Nation, 
residing  on    the  Grand  River   they  must  answer  for   themselves.      I  am  not  so  par- 
ticular  in  this  as  I  might  be,  seeing  no  great  necessity  for  it,  as  I    hope  to  see  General 
Chapin  ere   long.      In  reading  the  Speech  you  have  sent   me  I   perceive  that  you  sav 
we  requested  you  might  be  sent  to  Kindle  the  Council  Fire  &c.      This  I  know  to  be 
a  mistake,  in  our  speech   to  General  Chapin  wc  wished   the   President  of  the  United 
States  to  send  a  Commissioner  to  our  Fire  Place  at  Burfaloe  Creek  (your  name  being 
inentioned).      Not  that   you  was  to  come  and   kindle  a  Council    Fire  elsewhere  — & 
that  you  requested  our  .assistance  to   bring  about  a    Peace,  &c.  _  You  did  and    every- 
thing has  been  done  by  us  faithfully  and  sincerely  by  pointing  out   the  Medicine  that 
wouK.  accomplish  It    your  relinquishing  p^rts  of  your  claims   in  the  Indian  Country. 
Tou  also  say  I  md  Genl  U,pin  at  ^nnys  that  U  was  the  British  that  pre-venttj  the 
Treaty  tahn^  place.      I  said  so  then  and  still  do.      IVhat  enabled  me  to  say  so  toa.   the 
Gentlemen  belonging  to  the  Indian  Department  in  that  quarter  interfering  in  the  business 


6+ 


Tories  or  Loyalists 


which  long  remained  as  flexible  as  a  wire  fence,  moved  back 
and  forth  at  will,  even  looking  for  the  sources  of  the  Mississippi 
at  the  Lake  of  the  Woods,  instead  of  Itaska  lake,  far  below,  and 
which  required  four  subsequent  treaties,  an  arbitration,  and  a 
war,  to  settle  ;  seems  a  reasonable  cause  for  discussions,  attempts 
at  treaties,  and  long  complications. 

These  letters  to  Colonels  Pickering  and  Monroe  are  merely 
suggestions  ot  the  many  records  existing  of  his  capacity  and 
persistency,  in  seeking  to  protect  and  retain  what  his  forefathers 
had  held  by  an  undisputed  title,  before  even  the  Johnsons  had 
come  with  the  authority  of   conquest,  to  divide  it. 

When  Gist,  the  companion  of  Washington,  was  exploring  the 
valley  of  the  Ohio,  in  1752,  a  Delaware  chief  demanded  of  him  : 

Had  tlit  line  iii  pointed  out  hy  us  been  accepted  hy  the  United  Utatei  their  interference 
would  not  have  prevented  Peace  then  taking  place  cu  the  Fi-ve  Nations  hud  pledged 
themsel-ves  to  see  it  ratified.  As  to  the  business  of  the  fVhite  Nations  I  percei-ve  it  at 
present  to  he  a  lottery  which  ivill  be  uppermost  cannot  he  known  until  draiun,  the  most 
poiverfut  no  doubt  -will  succeed,  hut  let  who  will  he  successful  our  situation  is  the  same,  as 
we  still  hu've  whites  to  deal  with  who^e  aims  are  generally  similar.  Tou  mention  the 
People  of  France  twk  the  Indian  method.  .411  their  -warriors  turned  out.  The  Indian 
warriors  arc  ahva\s  ready  to  turn  out  to  defend  their  just  rights.  But  Indian  warriors 
•would  not  he  ready  to  Butcher  in  an  inhuman  shocking  manner  their  King,  i^ieen, 
Nobles  and  others,  this  is  acting  worse  than  what  is  called  lavage.  The  Indians  are 
not  entirely  destitute  of  humanity,  but  from  e-very  appearance  it  has  fed  from  France.  I 
must  therefore  say  the  Frjnch  have  not  acted  as  the  Ind.ans  do.  You  likewise  mention 
that  you  told  the  Deputies  from  the  Westward  who  met  you  at  this  place,  that 
though  you  was  willing  lo  run  a  new  line  yet  it  was  impossible  to  make  the  Ohio 
the  Boundary,  this  1  believe  is  a  mistake  as  the  word  Ohio  was  never  mentioned  at 
that  time.  Tou  may  rest  assured  that  I  do  vat  swerve  from  any  expressions  I  havt 
made  use  of.  I  know  the  necessity  for  being  candid,  especially  at  this  critical  juncture. 
I  still  earnestly  hope  that  Peace  may  be  established  without  further  hlo-jdshcd  &  that 
Friendship  may  reign  between  the  People  of  the  United  States  and  the  Indian  Nations, 
this  be  assured  is  the  Sincere  wish  of 

Sir,  Your  Most  Obedient 

Humble  Servant 
Timothy  Pickering,  Esqr.  Jos.  Bkant. 

Col.  Pickering  had  been  employed  for  some  years  in  these  negotiations  as  being  A 
member  of  the  President's  Cabinet  as  Post  Master  General  and  in  this  year  made 
Secretary  of  War.  Another  very  interesting  and  able  letter  of  Brant  to  Colonel 
James  Monroe  in  four  neatly  written  pages  1=  omitted,  as  partially  printed  in  the  ad 
Vol.  of  his  l.ife. 


in  the  Revolution, 


6s 


"  Where  are  the  lands  of  the  Indians  ?  the  French  claim  all  on 
one  side  of  the  river,  and  the  English  all  on  the  other. "38 
Such  was  the  position  of  the  heritage  which  Brant  believing 
that  he   was    born    to    maintain  and  transmit,  was  then  loosing. 

Failing,  as  many  have  done  before  and  since,  he  retired  into 
Canada  and  spent  his  later  years  under  the  protection  of  those 
with  whom  he  had  made  common  cause,  but  personally  so 
delicately  accepting  their  bounty,  as  in  one  instance  to  question 
hi:,  own  right  to  a  pension,  as  a  retired  military  officer. 

Thomas  Campbell,  lived  to  correct —  in  afoot  note  — his 
record  of  Brant's  cruelty,  in  his  widely  read  "  Gertrude  of 
Wyoming,-'  but  its  subject  who  had  grieved  over  it,  had  died 
too  soon  for  the  comforting  retraction.  His  absence  on  that 
occasion,  threw  the  weight  of  the  massacre  on  a  white  savage, 
Colonel  John  Butler,  who  doubtless  had  the  same  authority  as 
that  conferred  on  hjs  kinsman  and  subordmate  by  the  commis- 
sion annexed. 39 

Brant  was,  however,  present  at  the  battle  of  Minisink,  where 
great  cruelty  was  displayed,  tor  which  he  has  been  censured. 
If  he  was  responsible  for  it,  it  detracts  from  many  other  evi- 
dences of  his  humanity  in  warfare,  and  shows  the  trace  of 
the  savage  element  in  his  character,  when  fired  by  war. 

38  Griswold  and   Lossing's  Washington. 

39  This  commission  indicating  care  in  its  instructions,  now  unusual  in  such  documents 
and  wear  from  use.  is  that  ot  Walter  Butler,  noted  l.oth  tor  his  etHuen.y  and  ouelty' 
killed  at  Cmada  Creek,  on  the  29,h  of  October,  lyS.,  by  a  force  ui.der  Col.' 
Mannus  Willetr,  while  rct-eating  from  a  raid  to  Warren's  Bush,  and  h,s  former 
Home,  in  the  year  succeeding  the  expedition  of  Sir    [ohn. 

Guy  Carleton,  Knight  of  the  Bath,  Captain  General  and  Governor  in  Chief  of  the 
province  of  Quebec  and  Tenitories  depending  thereon,  &c.,  &t..  General  and  Com- 
mander in-Chiet  of  his  Majesty's  For.es  in  said  Province  and  the  Kiontici^  theieof 
*'••»    '^c.  To  Walter  BuTLEH,  Esci..,  Greeting  : 

Reposing  special  trust  and  Contijence.in  >our  Loyaltv,  Courage  and  good  Conduct 
I  do  by  these  Presents  Constitute  and  appoint  you  to  be  Caftain  in  a  Co,p,,f  Ruugtri 


66 


Ivories  or  Loyalists 


He  would  appear  to  have  been  a  man  of  large  capacity  ;  and 
his  record  a  noticeable  evidence  of  the  result  of  its  development 
in  time  of  peace,  by  the  same  wise  appliances,  now  interesting 
to  examine  in  iise.  at  the  school  at  Hampton,  Va.,  in  charge  of 
General  Armstrong,  and  probably  at  the  two  others,  ^t  Forest 
Grove  for  the  western,  and  Carlisle  tor  the  eastern  section. 
Such  cri^orts,  are  in  accordance  with  the  dying  suggestions  of 
Brant  to  his  nephew,  "•  Have  pity  on  the  poor  Indians  ;  if  you 
can  get  any  influence  with  the  great,  endeavor  to  do  them  all 
the  good  you  can." 

His  life  by  Colonel  Stone,  a  work  of  singular  interest,  gives  full 
detail  of  his  career,  in  part  early  collected  in  his  old  neighbor- 
hood—  a  fine  edition  of  it  printed  by  the  late  Joel  Munsell, 
of  Albany,  largely  with  his  own  hand,  assists  to  cause  the 
latter  to  be  recalled  bv  some  collectois,  as  the  Albany 
"Caxton." 

It  is  just  to  record  a  dissenting  opinion  as  to  the  proper  treat- 
ment of  the  remaining  Aboriginees.  It  differs  from  those  of 
Colonel  Brisbane,  and  other  regular  officers  who  have  served 
amongst  them,  and  of  some  who  have  visited  the  border  posts 
and  studied  the  effect  of  the  contact  of  races.      Captain  Payne 

to  serve  witli  the  Indians  during  the  Rebellion.  WheiTot  'J'''^''  Biititr,  Eiy.,  is 
Major  O.mmatidaiii.  You  are  tlieretiirc  carefully  and  diligently  to  di.-^charge  the  duty 
of  captain  hy  exercising  and  well  disciplining  both  the  Interior  Officers  inA  Soldiers  of 
that  Corps,  and  I  do  iiereby  command  them  to  obey  you  as  their  Captaif,  and  you 
are  to  observe  and  tollow  such  Orders  and  directions  as  you  shall  from  Time  to  Time 
receive  from  me,  your  Major  Commandant,  or  any  otiier  Superior  Ofhccr,  according 
to  the  rules  and  discipline  of'  War.  In  pursuance  of"  the  :  t  hereby  reposed  in  you. 
Gi-veii  under  my  hand  and  Seal  at  Arms,  at  ^itbec,  this  /entieth  day  of  Decem- 
ber, 1777.  and  in  the  Eighteenth  year  of"  the  Reign  of  our  Sovereign  Lord,  George 
the  Third,  by  the  Grace  of  God,  of  Great  Biitain,  France  and  Ireland,  King, 
Defender  of  the  Faith,  and  so  forth,  Guy  Carleton. 

By  His  Excellency's  Command,  Francis  Le  Maisirk. 

Walter  Butler,  Esq.,  Captain  of  a  Corps  of  Rangers,  to  serve  with  thf  Indians 
during  the  Rebellion, 


in  the  Revolution, 


67 


recently   arrested   by  our   troops   when   raiding  in   the   Indian 
Territory,  and  affecting  to  be  a  humane  man  in  his  way,  says: 

"  Tell    the    Herald,    that    the    policy    of    myself    and    fol- 
lowers  is    not    to  resist    the    government,    so   we    came   along 
with  the  troops  when  we  were  told   to  come.       ^       *       *       * 
"  There   is  a   class    of  people  who  are  eternally   howling  that 
they  are  afraid  the   white   man   may  crowd   the   Indian.     They 
are   the  people  who  sit   in  their    houses,  cut    their  coupons  and 
read  gush  about    the  poor  Indian.     They  don't  want  farms  and 
a  hvmg,  they  have  already  got   them  and  have  no  sympathy  for 
those  who  are   poor  and  want  homes.      They  would  rather  see 
the   poor  inan    starve,   than    to  have  their  picture  of  the   noble 
redman  chasing  the   wild  gazelle  over  an  eternal  meadow  with 
a  babbling  brook,  destroyed," 

The  writer  must  be  aware   that  while  the  area  of  the  Indian 
Terr.torv  is    less  than    69,000    square  miles,   that  of  Texas   is 
274,356,  large  enough  it  would  appear,  for  the  accommodation 
or   the   rights  of  the  settler,  and    the  native.      That   there   is  a 
vast  area  of  land  in  the  west  and  south-west,  already  open  "  to 
those  who  want    farms."     U  any  person   desires   to   trace   the 
origin    and    progress    of    such    methods    as    he    proposes     for 
securing    the    territory    of    the    "  noble    red    man,"    without 
consideration    or    equivalent,    he   can    find    them    successively 
detailed  in  this  ''  Life  of  Brant,"  and  many  other  works  referring 
to  the  same  period.     If  such  acquisitions  are  still  indispensible 
to  the  progress  of  civilization,  might   we  not  devise   a  way  of 
acquiring  the  territory  consistent  with  its  teachings,  which  would 
he  more  creditable   in    future    history   than   that   of  involving 
constant  collision  and  shedding  of  blood. 
9 


68 


Tories  or  Loyalists 


Lord  Sydney  simply  recognizes  Johnson's  official  position, 
in  fixing  a  temporary  salary,  which  even  with  the  difference 
in  the  value  of  money,  would  be  a  moderate  compensation  now 
for  a  subordinate  civil  officer. 

Whitehall,  20  August^  ^785. 
Sir  : 

I  am  sorry  that  it  is  not  in  my  power  before  your  departure 
for  Quebec,  to  acquaint  you  that  some  decision  had  taken  place 
with  icspect  to  your  salary  as  Superintendent  of  Indian  Affairs. 
I  hope  that  it  will  very  shortly  be  fixed,  in  tlie  meantime  I  am 
authorized  to  inform  you  that  you  may  draw  upon  the  Com- 
mander-in-chief in  Canada,  for  the  usual  salarv  of  One  Thousand 
pounds  per  annum,  until  you  receive  further  direction  from  me. 
I  flatter  myself  that  I  shall  be  able  to  write  to  you  fully  upon 
this  subject  by  the  next  Packet  that  sails  for  Quebec,  and  you 
mav  be  assured  that  no  endeavour  of  mine  will  be  wanting  to 
obtain  tlie  augmentation  of  your  salary  which  you  desire,  and 
place  it  upon  a  permanent  footing,  I  have  the  honor  to  be,  with 
regard, 

Sir,  Your  Most  Obedient 

Humble  Servant, 

Sydney. '*° 

Sir  John  Johnson,  Bart. 


No  British  officer  in  service  in  the  Revolution,  would  appear 
to  have  left  America  with  more  reciprocal  hostile  feeling  than 
General  Gage,  the  earliest  commander  of  the  King's  Troops 
in  that  war.  The  certificate  of  his  son  has  no  interest,  beyond 
a  reference  to  his  father's  habit  of  business. 

40  Hon.  Thomas  Townshend  who  on  the  dissolution  of  Lord  North's  ministry  had 
become  Lord  Sydney. 


tn  the  Revolution. 


69 


General  Gage's  certificate  to  Sir  John's  Deputy. 

I  certify  that  Colonel  Guy  Johnson  took  an  active  part  in 
favour  of  the  British  Government  from  the  first  appearance  of 
a  Revolt  >n  North  America,  that  he  did  his  duty  as  became  a 
^ithful  Subject  m  his  Department  of  Superintendent  of  Indian 
Nations  and  kept  those  l^ribes  in  his  Majestys  Interest  and 
defeated  the  Endeavors  of  the  Rebels  to  alienate  their  affections 
froni  tne  King,  and  to  induce  them  to  appear  in  Arms  against 
h.s  Government.  That  he  assembled  a  large  Bodv  of  Indians 
and  joined  General  Carlton  in  Canada. 

Thos  Gage. 

Given  under  my  hand  this  21st  day  of  June  1785. 


AlR.  Chew^' attorney  f<,r  Sir  John  Johnson  having,  applied  to 
me  for  copies  of  the  accounts  which   Sir  Wm.   Johnson  Super 
Intendent  for  Indian    Affairs  transmitted   to  my  father  General 
Caage  deceased  during  his  Commanding   His   Maiestys  Troops 
in    America,  and    for  copies  of  the    Warrants  he   crave  for  the 
l^ayment   thereof,  I  can   only    say  that  my  fathers  'papers  have 
not  come  immediately   under  my   inspection  or  can  I  sav  posi- 
tivelv  whether  the  copies  of  those   Accounts  and  Warrants  are 
with   them,  but  am  certain  that  it  was  a   Rule  with  him  to  see 
accounts  made  clear  and  plain  and  when   he  gave  Warrants  for 
the  Payment  the  Warrants  were  annexed  to  the   Accounts  and 
transmitted   bv  him   to  the    Pay   Office  in    London  where" thev 
now  no  doubt  may  be  found. 

H.  Gag£.'»" 
Old  Aboresford  Nov.   16,  1787. 

To  Mr.  Chew.  Attornev  to  Sir  John  Johnson. 

*' Captain  Joseph  Chew,  a  prisoner  to  the  French  when  commanding  a  detachment 
reconno, tenng  .9  June   ,747.   A  legatee  of  ^50  acres  in  Sir  William  Johnson's  w  11 
as    h,s       much  esteemed    fnend  and  old   acquaintance  "    and  father  ol  h,s  god  Ton' 
Also  one  ot  the  executors.  ^       ^°''- 

*'  Henry  Viscount   Gage,  retired   Major  of  the  9^   Reet    of  Foot    ■^  Pr.nto.„     ( 
Peter  Kemble   of  the  Kings   Council  of  New    Tersev    If  tht   lT\     ^  f   l^ 
well  esteemed  Gouverneur  Kemble,  of  New  York.    '^'  ""'""■  °^  '^^  '""^ 


70 


Tories  or  Loyalists 


Three  of  tiicsc  jetsams  of  Time,  suggest  the  continued  ex- 
pense which  Great  Britain  was  incurring  in  the  charge  of  her 
Indian  population  even  in  time  of  peace,  and  whetlier  it  was 
in  consideration  of  their  former  service  in  war. 

Guy^    Lord  Dorchester    General  and    Commander-in-chief  of  his 
Majesty's  Forces  in  North  America. 

To  Thomas  Boone,  Deputy  Paymaster  Genera],  etc.,  War- 
rant to  pay  Sir  John  Johnson,  etc.,  etc.,  Nine  Thousand  pounds 
sterling  in  doHars  at  45.  8(7.,  each,  ior  services  of  "  persons  em- 
ployed and  sundry  disbursements  of  the  Department  of  Indian 
Affairs  under  his  Superintendency  between  25th  Dec,  1786, 
and  24th  IVIarch,  1787." 

Quebec,  Qth  November,  1786. 

DORCHKSTER. 


To  the  Right  Honorable  Guy.,  Lord  Dorchester,  Capt  General  and 
Governor-in- Chief  of  the  Colonies  0/  J^uehec,  Nova  Scotia,  i\ev> 
Brunswick  Cif  their  Dependencies,  Vice  Admiral  of  the  same 
General  and  Cotnmander-in- Chief  of  all  His  Majestys  Forces  in 
Said  Colonies  £5  in  the  Island  of  Newfoundland  Z3c  &c. 

The  Memorial  of  Sir  John  Johnson  Baronet  Superintendent 
General  &  Inspector  General  of  Indian  Affairs. 

Humhlv  Sheweth.  That  your  Memorialist  is  in  want  of 
£4310  5,f.  8(7.  sterling  to  enable  him  to  pay  Persons  employed  in 
the  Department  of  Indian  Affairs  under  his  Superintendency 
between  the  25  December  1786  and  24  December  1787  as  per 
abstract  annexed.  We  therefore  pray  your  Excellencys  Warrant 
on  the  Deputy  Paymaster  General  for  the  above  sum. 

John  Johnson. 

Quebec  16  April,  1788. 

Another  order  by  Lord  Dorchester,  in  favor  of  Sir  John 
as  Superintendent  and  Inspector  General  of  Indian  Affairs, 
for  Two  Thousand  pounds,  for  incidental  expenses,  between 
25th  December,  1786,   and   24th  December,  1787. 


in  the  Revolution. 


71 


Both  signed  by  Dorchester  and  Captain  Francis  Le  Miistre, 
the  Governor's  A.  D.  C.  and  Secretary  and  endorsed  by  Sir 
John  Johnson. 

This  doubtless  to  be  used  in  a  claim  for  indemnity,  refers 
to  a  useful  officer  of  the  British  Government  in  Canada  during 
the  Revolution. 

In  the  Exchequer 


Stamp 
J 


In  the  matter  of  Sir  John  Johnson,  Baronet, 
the   legal    personal   representative  of  Sir 
William     Johnson,     Baronet,     his     late 
Father,  deceased,  late   Superintendent  of 
Indian  Aftairs  in  North  America. 
Thoriias  Wallis,  late  Assistant  in  the  office  of  the  Secretary 
to  the  Commander-in-Chief  in  North  America,  now  of  Hertford 
street,    Mayfair,    in    the    County    of    Middlesex,    Gentleman, 
maketh  oath  and  saiih,  that  he  has  known  General  Sir  Frederick 
Haldimand    for  fourteen    vears  and   that  the  words   and    fiaures 
"London    the    14th  of  August,  1787,"  and   the    name  "Fred 
Haldimand  "  aj  pearing  to  be  written  and  subscribed  at  the  foot 
of  the  account  and   certificate  m. irked   with  the   letter  X   now 
produced,  are    the  proper   handwriting   of  the  said    General  Sir 
Fred    Haldimand,^  and  were  written  and  subscribed  by  him  in 
the    presence  of  this  deponent,  and  the    said  General   Sir  Fred 
Haldimand  after   he  had  so   subscribed   the  same,  delivered  the 
said    produced   account    and   certificate    to  this    deponent,  and 
directed  him  to  deliver  the  same  to  Mr.   Chew,  attorney  to  the 
said  Sir  William  Johnson.  Thos.  Wallis. 

Sworn  at  my  house  in  St.  John  street  1 
the  nth  April,  1788,  before  me.  j 

J.  A.  Eyre. 
Sir  John   here    appears  in  a  civil  office   usually    awarded  in 
British  Colonies,  as  a  mark  of  especial  consideration. 

«  Born  and  died  at  Switzerhind,  at  lirst  in  Prussian  service,  but  entered  the  Eng- 
lish with  Col.  Bouquet.  Came  to  America  as  Lt.  Col.  60  Roval  American  Regt.  in 
1757;  distinguished  at  Ticonderoga  in  1750;  defended  o'swego  in  1759  •  with 
Amherst  at  Montreal  in  1760;  as  Colonel  at  Pensacola  1767;  home  informing  min- 
istry  as  to  Colonies  in  1775  i  l*  ck  -'s  Lieut.  General  in  1776:  succeeded  Carleton  as 
Gov.  ot  Canada  in  1778  and  until  I7>!4;   died  in  1791. 


72 


Tories  or  Loyalists 


Quebec,  i  May,  1787. 
Received  honi  Henry  Caldwell,  Esq.,  Acting  Receiver 
General  of  the  Province  of  Quebec  the  sum  of"  Fifty  Pounds 
Sterling,  being  for  my  Salary  as  a  Member  of  the  Legislative 
Council  of  the  Province,  from  1st  November,  1786,  to  30 
April,  1787,  pursuant  to  his  Excellency,  Governor  Lord 
Dorchester's  warrant  dated  ist  May  1 787,  for  which  I  have 
signed  Two  Receipts  of  this  Tenor  and  Date. 
^50  Sterling.  John  Johnson. 

Apparently  a  moderate  compensation  compared  with  that  of 
later  law-makers,  and  especially  well  earned  if  the  quality  of 
legislation  waj  equivalent  to  its  quantity.  In  this  it  would 
markedly  differ  froni  much  that  has  been  condensed  into  portly 
volumes  as  the  brain  food  offered  by  the  deliberative  wisdom  of 
other  bodies  when  sitting  for  a  similar  period.  Perhaps  he 
divined  how  much  easier  it  is  to  enact,  than  in  all  cases  to 
comprehend.  How  doubtful  the  intention  of  the  law  maker  often 
proves  to  others,  and  how  much  special  legislation  is  rendered 
unnecessary  bv  general  acts,  if  sought  for.  He  doubtless  dis- 
covered, as  nianv  legislators  have,  that  there  were  more  debaters 
than  listeners,  more  movers  than  seconders,  and  that  it  is  easier 
to  criticise  than  to  originate. 

The  remaining  letter  borrowed  from  a  friend's  exhaustive 
collection  of  Americana  merely  displays  neighborly  kindness 
to  one  who  sympathised  in  sentiment  and  destiny,  by  taking 
refuse  from  imprisonment  for  political  offences  in  Canada  with 
the  writer. 

Dr  Sir  Johnsons  Hall  25  July  lyjs- 

The  bearer  will  deliver  you  some  provisions  &  clothes  and 
Mr  Clement  will  give  you  a  paper  containing  a  Ten  pound  note 
which  I  received  from  Mrs  White  this  morning.  The  Indians 
having  desired  some  cash  from  me  to  expend  when  they  come 


in  the  Revolution, 


11 


amongst  the  inhabitants  in  Canada,  which  I  have  not  to  irive 
them  1  must  beg  you  will  supply  them  &  charge  it  to  Colonel 
Johnson  If  ycu  have  forgot  anything  and  I  can  be  of  service 
to  y^ju  1  beg  you  11  mention  it.      God  bless  you. 

To  Alexander  White  Esq.  Yrs  J.  Johnson.44 

These  random  notes  as  to  the  Johnsons  suggest  reflections  as 
to  the   quality  of  loyalty,  even  in  an  adversary,  to   one  whose 
sympathies,  studies   and   collections,   have   for  years   been  de- 
voted to   appreciative   illustration  of  the  achievements  of  their 
opponents  and  a  jealous  watchfulness  to   their  use.      Although  ' 
sketched  from  a  diflerent  standpoint,  he  trusts  that  his  conclu- 
sions will  accord  with   those  which  a  friend  is  preparing  under 
different    ijispirations,  at  a   point    too    remote  lor    comparison. 
The  absence  ot  Memoir.,  Diaries,^  and  even  of  comprehensive 
letters  on  these  details  is  to  be  regretted. 

^4  Tbu  and  one  other  letter  belonging  to  Dr.  Thomas  Addis  Emmett,  ail  of  the  other 
e  ters  and  papers  .n  that  ot  the  contributor.  As  to  Sheriti'  White  and  the  cir  um- 
stances    under    wh.ch     .t    was    untten,   vide  Stone's    "Life   of  Brant."  Vol.  l.,p 

45  There  appears  to  he  a  resemblance  _  probably  often  noticed  by  others,  between 
the  useful  oyster  hsher  who  delves  with  his  rake  into  the  muddy  bottom,  for  he 
b.vave  andthe  less  wdely  appreciated  labor  of  one  who  dives  for  costly  earls  in 
the  turbid  waters  of  forgotten  tact.  ^  ' 

Many  amateur  Collectors  of  fragmentary  history  are  scattered  over  the  country 
purchasing  and  articulating  disjointed  material,  and  quietly  working  with  the  devotion 
voluntarily   displayed   by   Old    Moitality  in  /..  specialty  l.f  restortng   the   dil  p  3 

tombstones  of  people  he  had  never  seen.      No  writer  on  American  History  liaseluci- 

are  in  ^"^^T"       r  '^^i ''".'"'''"  ^''''^"''>  ^^an  Dr.  Lossing,  whose  "F.eld  Books" 
are  in  ertect.  Biographical  Lexicons. 

Another  instance  of  a  renaissance  of  valuaole  historical  waifs,  germain  to 
the   na  ne   ot    Burgoyne,    elsewhere   referred  to.  as  connected    with   one  associated 

Tv  hin?h-"<<A  ""''i  ''^;\''^^''^  ^°l''i<='-.  then  his  conqueror,  and  styled 
by  h.m  his  "Accoucheur  ••  A  large  portion  of  the  military  papers,  and  o  der 
books  of  General  Gates,  after  slumbering  in  his  muniment  box  for  ov^r  threescore 
years,  had  recently  a  new  birth,  in  falling  into  the  remarkable  Emmet  Collection 
A  part  of  them  througn  the  active  enterprise  of  Mr.  John  Austin  Stevens,  were 
used  to  add  value  of  the  word  "Resurgam  -  by  their  publication  in  the  October, 
i88o- Gates -number  of  the  "Magazine  of  American  History"  Thev 
arise  to  dispel  many  errors,  disseminated  in  American  History.  Thev  show 
that  after  his  probably  ill-advised  advance  at  Camden,  when  driven  from  a  r  ITe 
part    of  the    field    by   the  precipitate    flight  of  the    North   Carolina    milTtia  1  cot 


74 


Tories  or  Loyalists 


Without  these  evidences,  many,  intending  tu  leave  an  honor- 
able record,  will  always  go  down  to  posterity  as  responsible 
from  their  position,  in  political  or  military  life,  for  action  of  their 
associates,  which  they  personally  abhorred,  perhaps  opposed,  in 
its  progress,  or  at  worst  finally  submitted  to,  from  fear  of 
retaliation,  on  some  proper   object. 

Samuel  Pepys,  wlui  recorded  in  his  Diary  with  the  ex- 
periences of  an  unimportant  life,  much  random  fact,  ;ome  of 
which  subsequently  become  of  historical  interest,  is  now  being 
recalled  —  two  centuries  later  —  by  the  erection  of  a  Memorial 
in  London,  in  the  place  where  he  worshipped  and  rests.  It  would 
have  been  interesting  if  Johnson  himself,  or  some  Pepysian  an- 
notator  of  events,  sharing  his  confidence  and  his  tent  or  home, 
had  jotted  down  the  circumstances  attending  his  arrest,  parole, 

fronted  uy  well  ilrillcd  regulars — ignorant  by  this  reparation,  ot"  the  stand  de  Kalb 
was  making,  with  the  gallant  Maryland  and  Delaware  line  and  a  few  militia,  having 
the  benefit  of  tlieir  near  example,  that  he,  with  General  Caswell  and  other  offieers, 
struggled  for  many  miles  to  rally  them,  so  "  Hying  "  with  them  before  tiie  pursuing 
enemy,  in  an  elfort  to  bring  them  back.  That  instead  of  his  "  hair  glowing  grey  as 
he  ried,"  in  his  letter  to  the  President  of  Congress,  Hillsborough,  20th  August,  17H0, 
he  says,  "  By  this  time  the  militia  had  taken  to  the  woods  in  all  directions,  and  I 
concluded  with  General  Caswell,  to  retire  towards  Charlotte,  1  got  there  late  in  the 
night — but  reriecting  that  there  was  neither  arms,  ammunition,  nor  any  prospect  of 
collecting  any  Force  at  that  Place,  adequate  to  the  defence  of  the  Country  —  I  pro- 
ceeded with  all  possible  despatch  hither;  to  endeavour  to  fall  upon  some  plan,  in 
conjunction  with  the  Legislature  of  this  State,  for  the  defence  of  so  much  thereof 
as  it  is  yet  possible,  to  save  from  the  enemy."  Whatever  the  error  in  his  strategy 
may  have  been  —  and  it  is  ahvays  easier  to  criticize  than  to  plan,  his  course  from  his 
arrival  seems  by  many  letters  energetic,  and  that  of  one  intent  on  developing 
order  out  of  chaos.  While  mortified  witli  the  condition  into  which  he  h.id  (alien,  he 
does  not  appear  to  luive  lost  heart  or  hope,  and  continueo  his  exertions  apparently 
conscious  that  his  prestige  as  a  soldier  was  lost,  until  he  was  superceded  by  General 
Greene,  who  reaped  a  harvest  oi  laurels  on  the  ground  on  which  his  own  crop  had 
been  blighted. 

A  recently  printed  sketch  of  Colonel  Anthony  Walton  White — who  com- 
manded, with  Col.  Lee,  detachments  of  Continental  Cavalry  Ijing  near,  and  only 
waiting  fur  their  horses  Co  have  tilled  a  special  want  at  Camden,  and  whose  equip- 
ment appears  to  have  been  a  cjuse  of  special  anxiety  to  General  Gates  —  published 
with  a  tine  military  portrait  by  Sharpies,  and  prepared  under  the  direction  of  his  grand- 
son, Mr.  Evans,  is  another  interesting  renaissance. 


in  the  Revolution. 


75 


and  its  claimed  infringement  or  whether  he  considered  it  violated 
and  withdrawn  by  the  attempted  arrest  ;  and  also  if  at  Klocks 
Farm  he  left  the  field  iinwounded,  deserting  a  command  with 
which  he  evidently  displayed  marked  courage,  in  the  contest 
of  the  day.  As  to  the  facts  connected  with  the  parole,  careful 
consideration  even  in  the  absence  of  such  evidence,  would 
doubtless  now  convince  anv  fair  opponent,  that  the  judgment 
of  some  history  has  been  biased,  by  the  then  obnoxious  position 
of  the  actor. 

It  was  exacted,  by  a  display  of  force,  from  one  who  although 
holding  a  Major  General's  commission,  had  committed  no 
overt  act  of  hostility  against  the-  de  facto  government,  existing 
when  he  was  arrested  by  the  order  of  the  '•  Provincial  Con- 
gress "    of  the    State,  and    tin-     '■  Albany  Committee  "   bodies, 

In  thu  Held  of' early  southern  history  tlierc  is  probably  no  amateur  —  amongst  the 
niaiiv  who  are  quietly  interested  in  similar  labor  —  who  has  more  liberally  con- 
trilnited  valuable  privately  printed  tacts  than  Colonel  Charles  C  [ones,  jr.,  of 
Augusta.  His  "Siege  ot  Savannah  in  1779,"  and  another  oK  that  of  1864,  are 
amongst  his  valuable  works.  While  the  humane  administration  of  General  Ogel- 
thorpe,  the  rem.irkabic  (.liaracter  v\ho  tounled  (ieorgia,  h.is  been  largt'lv  recalled  by 
his  pen  j  his  "  Historical  Sketches  of  Tomo-clii-chi,  the  Mico  of  the  Vamacraws  " — 
«n  important  factor  in  American  History  in  his  p;.'riod,  but  whose  name  now  would 
require  a  special  introduction  even  to  many  general  re  iders  —  affords  testimony,  based 
on  information,  of  the  merit  of  another  Aboriginal  ruler. 

The  correspondence  of  General  Daniel  Morgan,  the  hero  of  Cowpens,  including 
much  of  Wasliington,and  Ltfayette  especially  his  friend,  having  fallen  into  the  writer's 
collection,  in  a  manner  very  satisfactory  to  his  family,  an  opportunitv  was  soon 
availed  of  to  use  it  in  recalling  his  usefulnes.-;.  Happening  to  receive  an  invitation 
from  Mayor  Coiirtenay — a  zealous  appreciator  and  collector  of  Charleston  Histuricil 
Relics  which  he  liberally  restores  to  their  appropriate  form  and  place-^and  a  committee 
of  oriicers  and  citizens  to  be  present  at  the  centennial  celebration  of  that  battle,  the  key 
to  Yorktown,  it  appeared  that  he  would  be  best  represented,  by  contributing  copies 
of  all  of  the  official  papers  connected  with  that  event.  They  were  recognized,  as  an 
articulate  ap[)arition  or  the  many  writers  amidst  the  scenes  of  their  former  action, 
by  the  posterity  of  mapy  of  them  ;  tilled  much  of  the  "  Charleston  News  "  of  the 
day,  with  /on//,  if  old,  intelligence,  and  have  taken  one  hund-ed  new  chances  of  pre- 
servation in  a  privately  printed  brochure,  neatly  prepared  by  Captain  Dawson  one  of  its 
editors,  who  sympathizes  in  the  past,  while  active  in  his  present.  These  are  re- 
ferred to  here,  merely  as  instances  of  the  value  of  the  preservation,  and  the  recurrence 
of  appropriate  opportunity  to  perform  an   easy  duty. 

10 


*J 


76 


Tories  or  Loyalists 


created  by  an  uprising  of  an  indignant  people,  and  six  months 
after  that  incident  occurred,  formed  by  the  Declaration  of  In- 
dependence into  pnrt  of  a  nation  de  jure. 

If  it  had  been  executed  after  that  period,  doubtless  the  sense 
of  obligation  would  have  been  stronger  upon  a  soldier,  but  at 
the  time  the  authority  of  Great  Britnin  controlled  a  large  por- 
tion of  the  Colonies  —  restive  under  its  restraint  —  and  its 
loc- !  authorities  were  in  power  at  New  York,  as  in  Canada, 
still  recognized  as  the  only  lawful  rulers  by  a  large  portion  of 
the  people. 

To  a  persc-1  representing  lar^^e  i  -terests.  and  the  head  of  a 
family,  this  interregnum  must  have  been  a  period  for  anxiety, 
and  adhering  to  the  old  government,  made  him  a  subject  for 
suspicion  and  disliki.,  to  those  who  had  so  aggregated  for  the  as- 
sertion of  grievances,  stil!  hoping  for  concessions  to  justify  their 
dissolution,  but  preparing  if  necessary,  in  the  impending  struggle 
to  establish  their  permanency.  To  this  administration  of  public 
affairs,  not  yet  made  permanent  by  the  .-;clion  of  Congress  on 
the  4.th  of  the  ensuing  July,  he  had  refused  to  give  his  ad- 
hesion, to  sign  the  articles  of  associatioii,  or  to  recognize  its  au- 
thority, declaring  that  he  would  "  rather  that  his  head  should 
be  CMt  oft."  than  unite  in  a  conflict  with  his  native  government, 
the  authority  of  which  he  doubtless  hoped  would  be  soon  re- 
asserted. In  this,  he  became  an  obstacle  to  the  popular 
movement,  and  was  from  his  influence  and  authority,  a  subject 
for  supression  or  control.  His  every  movement  was  watched 
and  discussed,  and  it  was  claimed  that  he  v,-as  fortifying  his 
house,  organizing  his  retainers,  and  co-operating  with  the 
Indians  foi    resistance,  yet   there  is    no  clear  evidence   that  he 


in  the  Revolution. 


77 


pursued  any    course  unusual    to  his  position   as  a  citizen  and  a 
magistrate,  in  troubled  times. 

But  his  presence  was  esteemed   a   danger   in   itself  and    his 
removal  a   necessity   which   knew   no   law.     General   Schuyler 
arrested     him,     with   a    large,    unresisted     military    force,    in 
January,  1776;    he   was    sent    to    Fishkill   and   submitted   to  a 
parole,  not  to   bear  arms   against  the   <le  facto  authority  which 
exacted  it,  or  to  leave  the  vicinity  of  his  home.      It  is  probable 
that  he  sought  m  this  an  opportunity  to  arrange  his  affairs,  until 
either  concession  or  suppression   restored   the   authority    of  his 
government.   For  some  causes,  probably  the  continued  suspicion 
of  danger  from  his  private  communications,  his  capture  and  con- 
finement, which  would  have  naturally  terminated  his  protection 
and  the  mutuality  ot   his  parole  was  decided  upon,  and  Colonel 
Dayton  stopped  at  the  Hall,  on  his   way    to    Canada,    to    make 
his  arrest,  but  found  that  Johnson,  advised  of  his  coming,  had 
escaped  into  Canada,  the  nearest   accessible    stronghold    of  the 
authority  he  recognized.      His    endurance    of  nineteen    days  of 
terrible   suffering  in   this,  his  winter   journev  through   the   Adi- 
roiidacks,  attested  his  physical  courage;   and  the  leaving  all   he 
valued     behind     him,     subordinate     to    a    sense    of    duty,    his 
remarkable  loyalty.      The  romantic  incidents  attending    Lady 
Johnson's  share  in   her    husband's  downfall,   will  doubtless  be 
appropriately  given  by  her  kinsman.      He    cannot  fail  to   show, 
that    her    married    life   justified    the    promise    which     Colonel 
Guy  Johnson  discerned  before  that  event,  when  meeting  her 
while  in   New   York  as  described   in  the  accompanying  letter. 
(  Appendix  A.  ) 

Such  a  parole  enforced  on  a  citizen  by  an  as  yet  temporarily 
constituted   and  semi-representative   body,  and   the   knowledge 


r  :f). 


78 


^lories  or  Loyalists 


that  it  was  to  be  substituted  by  imprisonment,  from  precaution 
and  not  for  crime,  would  appear  to  differ  materially  from  one 
exacted  after  concjuest  in  the  field,  and  that  its  essence  was 
in  the  application  of  Major  Dugald  Dalgetty's  maxim,  '■'■  fides 
et  fiduc'ia  relat'wa  sutit.'^ 

Many  expert  military  critics  have  considered  the  question  of 
the  obligations  of  paroles,  with  varied  latitude.  Some  have  pro- 
nounced this  one  no  longer  obligatory  on  a  prisoner,  who  was 
aware  of  its  intended  breach  by  the  giver,  and  that  the  law  of 
nature  overrode  the  dictates  of  a  nice  sense  of  honor — best 
appreciated  in  another  —  and  an  escape  after  warning  of  the 
intention  it  the  withdrawal  of  protection  was  as  justifiable 
before,  as  after  its  execution. 

But  there  is  a  precedent  apparently  applicable,  which  illus- 
trates the  difference  of  svmpathv  from  surrounduigs,  and  how 
the  same  claimed  offence  is  viewed  by  the  friends  or  enemies 
of  the  actor.  Those  who  have  remembered  the  blame  which 
has  .utached  to  Sir  John,  should  examine  the  different  sentiments 
called  forth  for  one  who  suffered  for  what  he  alone  was  censured. 
This  parallel  case,  was  that  of  Colonel  Isaac  Hayne.*  a  promi- 
nent patriot  in  South  Carolina.  He  had  served  in  the  defence 
of  Charleston,  with  the  cavalry  operating  outside  of  the  city, 
but  not  included  in  the  capitulation.  Afterwards  he  considered 
that  the  protection  of  his  family  residing  on  the  Edisto,  required 
that  he  should  accept  a  parole  from  the  captors,  only  obtained, 
by  signing  with  a  protest  as  to  service,  the  oath  of  allegiance, 
prescribed  by  Sn-  Henry  Clinton's  proclamations. 

This  exposed  him  to  the  annoyance  of  frequent  calls  /ir  his 
service  as  a  soldier,  due  by  that  obligation  tu  the  King,  and 
when   Gen.   Greene  advanced   in  1781,  considerinsr   the   British 

*  See  Ramsey's  Revolution  in  S.  C,  Vol.  11,  p.  277,  etc. 


in  the  Revolution, 


79 


control  ended,  he  again  took  the  field,  was  captured,  tried,  and 
executed,  by  Lord  Rawdon,  at  the  instigation  of  Col.   Nesbit 
Balfour,  the  commandant,  recalled  there  still  as  a  tyrant.      The 
whole    country   was   filled    with    denunciation   of  this  cruelty. 
The  Duke  of  Richmond  censured  it  in  Parliament  and  Balfour 
was  rendered  notable  for  his  unfeeling  disregard  to  the  appeal 
of  his  family  and  friends  for  mercy,  while  the  name  of  Hayne 
is  remembered,  by  collectors  of  American  History,  as  a  martyr 
to  a  popular  and   successful   cause.      Had    Sir  John   been  cap- 
tured  in  either  of  his  bold  invasions,  made  additionally  perilous 
by  that  impending  charge,  he  might  have  suffered,  even  by   the 
influence   of   his   exasperated   neighbors,   from    whom    he    had 
parted  with  mutual  antipathy.      His  daring  on  such  other  occa- 
sions, discredits     the    tradition    of   his   flight,    unwounded,    in 
advance  of  his  command,  at  Klocks  Field,  and  makes  it  seem  an 
instance    of    misrepresentation    unanswered,   and  accepted    by 
credulous  History  as  the  gift  of  irresponsible  tradition. 

It  is   notable  that  the  "  Annals  of  Tryon  County,"  which 
William  W.  Campbell,  an  estimable  gentleman  and  painstaking 
collector,  residing  at  Cherry  Valley,  prepared  many  vears  ago,* 
in  connection  with  a  society  formed   at  that  place   for  the  "col- 
lection  of  Local  History,  in  describing  the  battle,  and  alluding 
to  the  bravery  of  Johnson's  troops,  omits  this  sudden  departure 
which  must  have  reached  him  there  in  rumor,  rejected  as  fact. 
The  tradition  of  his  flight  from  Klocks  Field  without  refer- 
ring to  his    disabled    condition,  perhaps   arose  with    exa-perated 
neighbors    while    suff-'ering    from    his     undoubtedly    vindictive 
r^v.ges.    whose   patriotism    was    naturally    stimulated    by    the 
possession   of  his    abandoned    property,    and    from    whom    any 
sympathy  would  he  as  unnatural  as  that  of  the  huntsman  for  a 

*   Border  Warfare-  of  New  York   iti.i  Ann:ils,  etc.,  1849. 


mam 


80 


Tories  or  Loyalists 


wounded  stag,  which  had  ceased  to  stand  at  bay.  That  his 
accepted  government  appreciated  the  audacity  of  his  three 
incursions,  and  subsequently  repeatedly  honored  him  with 
commands  and  places  of  trust,  proves  at  least  their  continued 
confidence  in  his  courage  and  honor.  That  any  of  these 
questions  should  remain  open  for  discussion,  more  than  a  cen- 
tury afterwards  sustains  the  viev.  s  elsewhere  expressed,  of  the 
untold  value  ot  impartial  and  carefully  prepared  cotemporary 
history. 

In  any  event  he  had  opportunity  to  regret  in  a  long  life  of 
exile,  the  beautiful  home  which  he  had  lost  by  the  rigor  with 
which  his  native  State  adhered  to  its  rule  of  confiscation.  He 
resided  afterwards  in  Canada,  and  is  still  represented  by  many 
distinguished  descendants.  When  he  died  he  afforded  to  pos- 
terity an  opportunity  to  consider  that  bes.t  test  for  iudgment  of 
the  action  of  another  "  put  vourse'f  in  his  place." 

Although  prompted  by  a  sense  of  the  justice  of  availing  of 
the  opportunity  to  say  a  word  in  defence  ot  those  whose  records 
have  left  their  names  unpopular,  the  writer  is  satisfied  that 
their  vindication  has  been  delayed  too  long  to  influence  some 
whose  opinions  are  heredivary,  and  have  never  been  modified 
by  the  softening  effects  of  research.''* 

One  who  has  given  his  attention  to  historical  collections, 
and  has  completed  series  of  the  letters  of  the  Signers,  the 
Generals,  and  the  prominent  actors  of  the  C'olonial  and  Revo- 
lutionary periods,  has  naturally  sought  for  information  as  to 
their  inner,  as  well  as  their  printed  lives,  and   incidentally  as  to 

^*  It  appears  proper  to  say  th.?t  these  sentiments,- — not  influenced  by  anv  personal 
considerations,  —  are  sotnewha'  contrary  to  the  writer's  earlier  and  more  crude 
convictions,  derived  from  antecedents,  in  that  period,  and  from  the  early  settlement 
of  New  York,  identified  with  the  popular  cause,  and  often  then  and  since  by  succes- 
iion,  under  the  union  of  the  States,  aiding  —  sometimes  effectively  —  in  its  civil 
service,  and  in  every  war. 


in  the  Revolution. 


8r 


those  of  their  cotemporaries,  and  of  the  circumstances  which 
governed  all  of  them. 

This  naturally  inspires  a  comparison  with  the  more  familiar 
ones  of  their  successors,  and  of  their  relative  administration 
of  public  trust.  It  may  even  induce  a  conjecture  as  to  the 
result  —  if  it  were  possible  to  make  the  experiment  —  of  placing 
the  members  of  the  Congress  of  1776,  in  the  seats  of  a  {^^  of 
its  recent  representatives.  The  alternative,  bv  a  substitution  of 
many  of  our  present  for  those  p:  st  law-makers,  would  give  occu- 
pation for  a  stronger  imagination,  in  realizing  the  uses  of  the 
modern  appliances  of  legislation  in  those  time-honored  chairs. 

Were  such  transpositions  of  men  of  the  present  for  those  of 
that  important  crisis  possible,  might  it  not  be  less  difficult,  even 
after  a  century  of  brilliant  national   prosperitv,  affording  oppor- 
tunities to  individuals  which  ^^^n  then  enjoyed,  and  a  condensa- 
tion of  events  which  no  other  nation  has  probably  ever  witnessed 
in  a  similar  period,  to  select  a  substitute  for  Sir'  John  Johnson, 
were  he  all  that  vague  tradition  and  prejudice  has  pictured  him' 
to  be,  using  every  appliance  that  he  is  said   to  have  resorted  to 
in    seeking  to   claim  an   inheritance    of  which   he   felt    himself 
unjustly    deprived,  than   to  discover   a  second  Washington,  de- 
ferring  compensation,    neglecting,  in    his   negation    of  self,  his 
own  ample   estate,  to   battle    to  secure  the  property  of  others, 
subjecting   himself  to  the  jealousy   of  those    who 'coveted  his 
honors,  but  not  the  cares  and  exposure"   which   t-drned    them, 

Sir':  ^"  "'"  "^^'''''■'''''''^  Gy.o>u:y.  Washintfon,  Es.^.,  Gknekal,  .'v-c. 

Whekeas  David  Matthews,  Esq.,  stands  charged  with  dang.rous  Desi.n.s  and 
treasonable  Consp.races  against  tl,e  Rights  and  Liberties  of  the  United  CoLie.of 
Amenca.  We  do  .n  Pursuance  of  a  certain  Resolve  of  Congress  of  this  Cobnv 
n  '!\''rT'^'  '^Y  "M""'^.  instant,  authorize  and  request  you  to  cause  the  said 
Davd    Ma:thews  to  be  w,th  all  hi,   paper.s    forthwith  apprehended   and  secu    d,  Ind 


-T(8Br 


82 


Torks  or  Loyalists 


devoting  his  manhood  to  his  country,  and  finally  epitomising 
his  life,  as  an  example  to  the  temporarily  refractory  troops  at 
Newburg,  by  saying  —  when  compelled  to  resort  to  his  glasses 
in  deciphering  his  conclusive  appeal  to  their  patriotism  and 
endurance —  "  You  see  gentlemen,  that  I  have  not  only  grown 
gray,  but  blind,  in  your  service." 

To  write  the  name  of  Washington  is  a  temptation  to  the 
digression  of  an  American  pen,  even  when  proposing  to  speak 
more  specially  of  those  whom  he  conquered,  and  onlv  incident, 
ally  of  t.lie  victors. 

Collectors  of  unprinted  Historical  Material — often  classed 
as  Autographs  —  were  long  accustomed  to  attach  some  im- 
portance, in  discerning  the  character  and  surroundings  of  the 
writer,  both  to  his  manner  of  expression,  and  his  chirography. 
This  theory  has  been  sustained  by  many  able  authorities,  includ- 
ing Dr.  Joseph  G.  Cogswell,  formerly  of  the  Astor  Library. 

that  returns  be  made  to  us  ot  tlu'  nianni-r  in  wliich  this  Warrant  slial!  lie  executed  in 
order  tliat  the  same  may  be  made  known  to  the  said  Congress. 
Given  under  our  hands  this  twenty-first  day  ot'  June,  1776.      Philii'  LiviNCbioN. 

John   Jay, 

Gov.     MoKKIS. 

General  Greene  is  desired  to  iiave  the  within  Warrant  executed  with  precision 
and  exactness,  by  one  o'clock  tiie  ensuing  morning,  by  a  careful  officer. 

pRinAy   Afteknoon,   June  20,  1776.  G.   Washim.icn. 

Long   Island,    'Jutie  2ad,    1776. 

In  obedience  to  the  within  Order  and  Warrant,  I  sent  a  Detachment  ot  my  Brigade 
under  the  Command  of  Col.  Vernon,  to  the  house  ot  the  within  named  David  Matthews, 
Esq.,  at  Flat  Bush,  who  surrounded  iiis  house  and  seized  his  person  precisely  at  the 
hour  ot"  one  tiiis  morning.  After  having  made  him  a  Prisoner,  diligent  search  was 
made  after  his  Pa|iers  but  none  could  l>e  found,  notwithstanding  great  care  was 
taken  that  none  of  the  Family  sliuuld  have  tiie  least  opportunity  to  remove  or 
destroy  them.  Nathanikl,   Gukfnic. 

This  Pavkr.  if  earlier  discovered,  should  have  been  appropriate  adcitional 
material  for  "  Minutes  of  tlie  Trial  and  Examination  of  Certain  Perso.is  in 
the  Province  of  New  York,  charged  with  being  Engaged  in  a  Conspiracy  against 
the  Authority  of  the  Congress  and  the  Liberties  of  America."  Printed  in  London,  by 
I.  Bew,in  1786,  and  reprinted  in  an  edition  of  one  hundred  copies,  entitled  "Minutes 
of  Conspiracy  against  the  Liberties  of  America,"  by  [ohn  Campbell,  in  Philadelphia, 
1865,  describing  the  details  of"  the  Hickey  Plot"  for  the  poisoning  of  Washington, 


"" 


in  the  Revo iut tor;. 


83 


Any  even    fancied  value  in  this  belief,  is  becoming  obsolete 

as    applicable    to    later    correspondence,   in    an    unprecedented 

progress,  crowding  the  events  of  life,  and  increasing  the  value 

of  the  hour.      Rapidity   of  thought   and  action,  now  conveyed 

upon  paper  involves  brevity,  curtails  compliment,  and  disregards 
form. 

In  the  day  when  magazines  were  scarcely  known,  news- 
papers were  small  and  rare,  devoted  principally  to  advertise- 
ments, with  current  events  condensed,  and  even  discussion  by 
tracts  occasional  -,  a  letter,  as  a  comprehensive  means  of  com- 
munication, was  an  important  channel  of  intelligence.  Its 
dignified  foolscap,  or  "  letter  size  ;  "  emblazoned  with  water 
line,  and  adorned  by  a  g':lt  edge,  wa>  covered  by  a  carefully 
selected  "  quill,"   with  at  least  three  pages  of  public   or  private 

by  that  tiian,  one  of  his  Lite  (nurds,  who  w,.^  ex--cuted.      Gove.nor  Trvon,  who  was 
quarter.-.)    <„,   the    Duel-ess  ..t    Gcrdon,  a  vessel  Ivinu  in  the  harhor  —  and  sinL-ularlv 
named  after    the    lady   when,    Gen.   Staal-    Long    Morris,   the   lo)aIist   member  of  k 
patriot  family,  ma-r.ed-  was  supposed  t.,  be  the  ir.stigator;  the  medium    wa'^  David 
Matthews,  the  Mayor,  who  admitted  supplying  money   at   least,   for   arms     and   who 
was  sentenced  to  death,  but    reprieved    and   sent   to    Connecticut,    from    whence    he 
escaped  ;  the  method  to  poison    Washington   with   green   peas   wl,ich   were  provided 
and    on    being   tested    on    some  poultry,  proved  fatal  ;  and  the  result  to  be  a  liMna  in 
arms,  m  case  ot   success.      It  was  detected  by  the  disclosure  made  through  l>is  h,.u<e- 
keeper,  the  daughter  ot  Samuel  IVances,   the  innkeeper  at  the  corner  of  Broad  and 
Pearl,  where  Washington   afterwards   bid   adieu    to    his    ofiicers.     The    seat    of   the 
conspiracy,  was  Cortie  tavern,  b.'twecn  "Richmond    Hill,-   "Bayard's   Woods  "  and 
"  Lispenard's   meadow,"   near  the    now  intersection  of    Spring    and   Wo..srer  streets 
This  order  ot  arrest  was  issued  on  the  next  .l.u',  only  three  days  before  Lord    Howe's 
amva  ,  soon  followed  by  the  Battle  of  Long  Island,  the  retreat  of  Washington,  and  the 
British  occupation  of  the  citv,  attended  by  the  confusion  in  which,  Matthews  prcb-blv 
escaped       A  tririing   circumstance,  the   careful  erasing  of  a   word   with   a   penknife 
over  which  the  vvord  "within,"  i.  written  in  Washington's  endorsement,  displays  the 
coolness  and  method  in  writing  referred  to,  even  at  a  man  .nt  when  his  life  wi.' beset 
by  assassins.   The  other  papers  above  alluded  to  as  printed,  were  those  of  the  Secretary 
of  the  Committee  ot   Congress  signing  this  order  for  arrest.   The  accompanyinc-  letter  is 
from  Richan:    Cumberland,   the    well   knov^'n  essayist  and  author  of  many  plavs  and 
brochures,  a  retired    Secretary   of   the   Bu,,rd    of   Trade,   and    app.,rentlv,'  from    "the 
contents  of    a  number  of    letters  from  which  it  is  selected,  an  attache  and   purveyor 
of  Lord  George  Germain,  State  Secretary,  is  addressed  to  William  Woodfail    before  the 
public  at  this  period,  and  prosecuted  by  the  Crown  as  the    publisher  of  the   "  Lettert 
11 


8+ 


Tones  or  'Loyalists 


intelligence,  conveyed  in  well  formed  characters,  with  dignified 
assurances  of  consideration  and  respect.  It  was  generally  closed 
with  wax,  and  impressed  with  the  seal,  which  then  dangled 
from  the  writer's  "^  fob,"  all  in  such  form  as  \.o  make  it  pre- 
sentable to  a  tnciid,  or  to  a  neighborhood,  according  to  its 
privacy  or  public  import.  Then  conveyed  in  a  '' mastship  " 
or  paclcet,  in  a  lumbering  ''  stage-wagon,"  or  bv  a  private  ex- 
press, its  receipt  was  a  sens-ation,  and  it  was  generally  preserved 
as  an  olijcct  of  value,  often  to  ari^e  years  afterwards,  permanent 
from  its  solid  material,  and  perhaps  to  find  new  appreciation  irj 
a  historical  collection,  to  solve  a  doubt,  or  suggest  an  Inquiry. 

Rare   papers    like  rare  paintings  still  command  competition,, 
showing  continued  appreciation.      (  Appendix  E.  ) 

Such  was  the  "golden  age"  of  tlie  collectors  only  recently 
terminated  by  the  Telegraph,  where  each  ivord  has  a  cost  as 
well  as  a  value  ;  the  Postal  Card,  commanding  condensation  and 

of  Junius."  He  has  an  cqu.illy  surviving  recuUection,  js  associated  with  tiie  original 
Mr.  Walter,  oF  the  London  Times,  in  experiments  in  printing  by  steam. 

Sir  :  Drayton,    Tuesday  Morning, 

Since  I  wrote  to  you  and  enclosed  ye  Boston  Gii'zelle,  a  messenger  is  arrived  with  ye 
news  ot  ye  reduction  oF  torts  Washington  and  Lee,  and  with  despatches  from  ye  Gen- 
eral, whicli  I  make  do  doubt  occasioned  the  publishing  of  an  Extra  Gazette  last 
nighr.  Tills  intelligence  would  have  been  l^rouglit  us  to  town  directly,  if  Lord 
George  hid  not  been  indisposed  with  a  cidd  and  swelled  face,  so  that  we  shall  not  be 
in  town  till  Friday  morning.  Anything  in  my  power  to  communicate  to  you  shall 
readilv  be  done,  and  1  am  very  sorry  that  my  distance  makes  it  not  practicable  by 
this  opportunity.  Ye  loyal  Mayor  of  New  York  has  made  his  escape  from  Litclitleld 
and  returned  to  that  City.  He  reports  the  situation  of  the  people  in  Connecticut  to 
be  that  of  men  heartily  weary  of  their  cause  and  its  conductors.  That  the  hospitals 
are  miserably  attended  and  served,  where  great  numbers  are  lost  for  want  of 
common  care.  That  there  are  small,  or  no  hopes,  of  another  Army  being  raised, 
the  eves  of  the  common  people  being  generally  open  to  their  situation.  That  a 
sovereign  contempt  for  their  officers  prev.iils  universally,  that  they  say  Lee  (  Gen. 
Charles  )  will  not  engage  for  fear  of  being  taken  and  lianged  and  that  ye  fame  and 
popularity  of  Gen.  Washington  is  greatly  gone  down. 

Many  particulars  mav  occur  worthy  the  public  notice  when  I  return  to  town  and 
get  mv  letters.  Sec.  I  am.  Sir, 

Your  Most  Obedient  Ser'vt, 
Mr.   William   Woodfall.  R.   Cumherl.'vnii. 


tn  the  Revolution. 


85 


disclaiming  privacy,  and  the  Monograph,  with  such  Napoleonic 
terseness  and  brief  detail  as  is  necessary  to  intelligibility  with 
little  regard  to  form.     These  last  appliances  tended  in  our  recent 
war,  to  condense  such  full  narratives  of  action  as  had  been  usual 
in  the  past,  leaving    it  to  the  comprehensive  and  indispensable 
newspapers,  published  in  keeping  with  the  progress  of  the  age, 
and  to  their  correspondents  to  form  the  public  sentiment  of  Its 
course  and  results  as  they  appeared  to  them.     It  remains  for  the 
government  to  perfect  its  history,  bv  instituting  a  careful  analysis 
of  such   narrative,  and   by  the  use  of  the  public   records,   the 
last   of  which    is    believed   to  be    now    in    progress,   and    if  so 
will  correct  many  errors,  known  tu  have  often  unavoidablv  crept 
into  more  hastily  prepared  impressions. 

At    thf    period   now    referred   to,   such  notable  persons  in  its 
history  as  Washington,  Su  Henry  Clinton,  Greene,  Cornwallis, 
and    Gates  — when    dispensing    with    the    services    of   aid    or 
secretary— and.   in  fact,  all    educated  persons,  from  sovereign 
to    citizen,   found    time    to    convey    their   thoughts    in    letters 
thus  carefully  expressed  and  gracefully  executed,  as  though  to 
con.bine  in  both  contents  and  form,  a  courtesy  to  the  person  ad- 
dressed, and  to  suggest  if  not  to  prove,  that  the  writer  was,  as  a 
"  gentleman  of  the  olu  school,'' at  least  "  to al!  poliic.  "    Perhaps, 
letters  of  this  period   which   are    preserved,   commend   in   their 
ensemble   this   style,   which  is  nece^-sarily  passing  away  from  the 
causes  referred  to. 

At  least  it  recalls  its  recollection  with  respect,  to  say  'hat  it 
everywhere  characterizes  the  manner  of  communicating  the 
plainest  sentiments  by  Washington  !  The  large  number  of  his 
letters,  still  carefully  preserved,  show  his  industry  ;  while  their 
existence   witnesses  the  cotemporary  appreciation    of  one   who 


=3= 


■ 


86 


Tories  or  Loyalists 


used  "  not  dim  enigmas  doubtful  to  discern,  "  but  expressed 
himself  in  "simple  truths  that  every  man  may  learn."*  How 
so  prominent  a  chiracter,  overwhelmed  with  active  duties,  often 
in  temporary  ([uait  rs  and  with  few  conveniences  but  always 
with  assistants  about  him  to  perform  the  manual  part  ot  the 
work  —  should  largely  from  preference,  with  his  own  hand  Hnd 
opportunity  to  correspond  with  the  Government,  its  members, 
governors  of  States,  his  generals  and  officers  of  every  grade,  his 
f.imily  and  personal  friends,  the  representatives  of  foreign  govern- 
ments and  interests,  even  with  citizens  scarcely  known  to  him — 
but  alive  to  the  value  ot  their  own  wants  or  suggestions  —  all 
with  courtesy,  uniformity,  and  neatness,  is  as  remarkable  as  the 
variety  of  the  topics  and  the  smallness  of  the  material  tor  sub- 
sequent  criticism.  • 

These  letters  collected  would  seem  manually  the  work  ot  a 
clerkly  copyist  rather  than  originals,  the  brain  and  hand  work  of 
the  founder  of  a  great  nation,  simply  recording,  even  while 
creating,  much  of  its  history,  amidst  conflict  and  doubt.  Many 
ot  these  have  found  their  place  in  print,  all  might  be  condensed 

with  advantage,  into  a  sort  of  complete  letter  writer  for  the  use 

of  schools. 

With  a  character  naturally  strong,  developed  by  a  capable  and 
devoted  mother,  an  ordinary  education  and  the  adventurous 
experience  of  his  youth,  Washington  is  marked,  by  a  course  of 
life,  ever  leading  upward  and  onward.  While  largely  controlling 
the  country  he  bad  helped  so  materially  to  create,  he  was  ready 
to  entertain  and  use  what  he  considered  adaptable  to  present 
circumstances,  from  the  experience  of  wise  men  of  all  periods, 
refined  in  the  crucible  of  his  own  broad  common  sense. 

*    Applied  from  an  early  poem  of  William  Allen  Butler. 


in  the  Revolution. 


«7 


Even  his  conclusions,  enforced  by  such  admitted  and  suc- 
cessful experience,  were  not  always  accepted.  He  had  passed 
to  power  through  triumphal  arches  raised  by  a  nation's  grati- 
tude, to  hold  it  with  a  people,  and  even  his  cabinet,  divided 
as  to  his  policy  ;  and  to  resign  it,  and  return  like  Cincinnatus 
to  his  plough,  with  an  expressed  sense  of  relief.  If  so  living 
now,  he  would  be  rewarded  by  the  universal  thanks  of  thost 
familiar  with  his  name  and  service^  which  did  not  fully  attend 
him,  when  two  factions  disputed  over  his  policy,  and  many 
beset  him  from  interest  or  for  place.  The  highest  popularity 
.lot  spasmodic,  attending  all  great  men  burthencd  with  power 
and  patronage  in  life,  may  be  claimed  to  attach  to  their  memory, 
after  they  are  dead.  • 

If  this  be  so,  his  parting  words  when  surrendering  his  highest 
and  final  authority  —  and  which  probably  combined  with  his 
own  judgment  that  of  others'*^  whom  his  confidence  in  itself 
proved  also  worthy  of  lasting  attention  —  cannot,  it  would 
seem,  be  too  often  recalled  as  embodying  past  experience,  with 
a  far  seeing  warning  for  the  future,  increasing  in  value  as  it 
addresses  a  larger  auditory. 

At  least  an  annual  public  reading  of  that  Farewell  Address, 
with  that  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence — to  the  fulfill- 
ment of  the  purposes  of  which  it  applies  —  and  their  study  also 
in  our  schools,  would  appear  to  be  necessary  instruction  to  all 
who  may  aspire  to  public  place.  They  show  the  birth  and 
early  progress  of  the  Freedom  they  are  expected  to  preserve. 
Some  have  always  referred  to  them  as  opening  truths  which  are 
already  new  to  millions  of  unfamiliar  ears.  Those  more  accus- 
tomed to  such  teachings  —  could  console  themselves,  if  present, 
with  the  adage,  "  a  good  thing  is  worth  repeating.  "     In  them 

^^  To  Hamilton,  Jay,  Jetierson  and  Madison  some  of  its  inspirations  were  due. 


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23  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

WEBSTER,  N.Y.  14580 

(716)  872-4503 


'"TiCi  I'wwtWi" 


fjggmtsaismeuaiimm 


m 


Tories  or  Loyalists 


every  elector  once  familiar  with  their  spirit  would  observe,  that 
in  traveling  too  rapidly  in  an  engrossing  present,  we  may  leave 
behind  such  less  recent  but  indispensible  companions  in  our 
country's  progress,  to  follow  newer  and  sometimes  falser  lights. 

By  such  constant  recurrence  to  the  grievances  the  latter  re- 
counts against  the  British  Government,  each  hearer  could 
discover  what  was  renounced  by  the  founders,  and  whether  by 
any  subsequent  legislation,  we  have  voluntarily  subjected  our- 
selves to  any  similar  burthens. 

With  this  conviction  the  accompanying,  taken  from  a  very 
rare  cotemporarv  certified  copy  of  the  Declaration,  more 
interesting  since  the  damage  to  the  original  in  its  transfer,  is 
inserted. 

The  Declaration  of  Independence,  appears  in  effect  an  ably 
drawn  and  dignilied  recital  o\  grievances  imposed  by  Parliament, 
and  which  had  become  intolerable  to  a  people  growing  in  in- 
telligence and  importance.  Its  incisive  tone,  and  confident 
assertion,  were  well  calculated  to  reach  an  auditory  of  various 
interests  scattered  in  thirteen  colonies,  differing  in  population, 
antecedents  and  interests,  and  to  arouse  them  to  concerted  action. 

It  rejects  the  further  control  of  the  makers  of  existing  laws, 
while  it  suggests  no  substitution  of  better  ones,  evidently  with 
the  intention  of  leaving  that  duty,  with  the  details'  of  Con- 
federate action,  to  the  future  representatives  of  a  free  people. 
Its  value  would  appear  to  be  in  the  position  it  asserted  at  a 
time  when  the  hope  of  success  appeared  dark,  and  in  recording 
the  opinion  of  its  patriot  founders  as  to  what  were  then  held  to 


in  the  Revolution, 


89 


be  wicked  impositions  by  legislation,  under  color  of  Iaw.«     Our 
present  legislai  jn  therefore,  is  subject  to  a  comparison  with  that 
ot    the  obnoxious    Parliament   as  there  specially  denounced,  as 
well  as  to  discover  the  extent  and  value  of  the  improvements 
it    is    making    under   the   present    limit    Congress  attaches   to 
its  power.      In    this    view  it    may   be   considered   the   chart  by 
which  the  shin  of   state  was  expected  by  them   to  be  navigated. 
Either  to  appreciate  the  historv  of  the  details  in  which  that  power 
originated,  or  its  use  in  the  present  and  future  it  would  appear 
that  education  in  our  past  was  indispensable  to  every  citizen,  and 
that  it  was  especially  the  duty  of  those  who  inherited  their  rights 
from  the  founders, to  qualify  themselves  not  only  to  understand 
and  protect   the  enjoyment  of  the  legacy  bequeathed    to  them, 
tree  from  the  effects  of  any  alleged  abuses  of  legislation,  but  to 
interest  themselves,  to  arouse  a  similar  sentiment  in  those   who 
have  lapidly  joined  them.      Not   to  recall  as  an  empty  phrase, 
but  to  illustrate,  that  Eternal  Vigilance  is  the  price  of  liberty,  by 
observing   the    proceedings  of  all   bodies   acting  with  delegated 
power,  and  if  practicable,  by  wisely  influencing   the  discretion 
with    which    that    auth  )rity    is    conferred,    by    the    individual 
citizen. 

•»»  Th-se  griev.incc-s  urged  ag.iinst  the  Bills  of  Farliamtnt  for  "  the  better  peopling 
of  the  Colonies,"  in  the  Congress  of  1774,  show  that  Eni^land  was  then  charged  with 
transporting  a  material  she  desired  to  be  rid  of,  more  dreaded  than  the  "  Hessians" 
io  unanimously  denounced  a  fe-v  years  later.  The  laws  of  the  Colonies  then  de- 
prived them  of  every  privilege  iieyond  rh.it  of  residence. 

"That  it  was  too  well  known  that  in  pursuance  of  divers  .A,cts  of  Parliament  rreat 
numbers  of  FelLws  lubo  haw  f.rfehfd  their  lives  to  the  Public,  for  the  mou  atrocious 
crimes,  are  annually  transported  from  home  to  these  Plantations.  Very  surprising,  one 
would  think,  that  Thie-ves,  Burglars,  Pickpockets  and  Cutpurses,  and  a  herd  of  the 
most  riagitious  Banditts  upon  earth  should  be  sent  as  agreeable  companions  to 
"S."  *  *  *  "  But  the  acts  were  intended /"or  tbi'  better  pe;plin^  of  the  Colonies  .' 
And  will  thieves  and  murderers  be  conductive  to  rhat  end  ?  What  advantage  can 
we  reap  from  a  Colony  of  unrestrainable  Renegadoes  >  Will  they  exalt  the  glory  of 
the  crown  ?  *  *  »  Can  Agriculture  be  promoted  when  the  wild  Boar  of  the 
Forest  breaks  down  our   Hedges    and   pulls  up   our    Vines  .'     *     *      How   injurioui 


90 


Tories  or  Loyalists 


At  the  present  time,  with  a  population  swollen  by  emigra- 
tion in  a  single  year  beyond  its  great  natural  increase,  by  nearly 
three-quarters  of  a  million,  the  growing  importance  of  the  teach- 
ing of  history  in  all  our  schools  would  seem  to  impress  itself  on 
all  who  desire  to  preserve  our  integrity.  Many  are  coming  to 
us  naturally  ignorant  of  our  past  and  present  and  its  cost  to  our 
forefathers  and  value  to  us  and  to  them,  and  who  cannot  become 
parts  of  a  homogeneous  population  advantageously  until  they 
have  accepted  intelligently  our  institutions  in  place  of  those 
under  which  they  were  born,  and  to  which  they  were  possibly 
hostile,  rejecting  as  impracticable  a  dual  nationality. 

A  knowledge  ot  American  history  would  appear  as  requisite 
as  those  simple  elements  of  education  which  enable  the  elector 
—  and  perhaps  future  ruler  —  to  read  an  amendment  of  a 
constitution,  on  which  by  a  steady  extension  of  the  privileges 
won  in  that  struggle,  he  is  soon  qualified  to  vote.  All 
details  of  the  past — on  a  more  liberal  construction  of  some 
of  which  it  is  hoped  that  this  use  of  these  papers  may 
possiblv  throw  a  ray  of  additional  light,  more  useful  than  that  of 
their  earlier  cremation,  which  some  wearv  reader  may  already 
consider  —  sh  -uld  be  constantly  perfected  and  studied,  even 
amidst  the  engrossing  activity  of  the  present. 


does  It  seem  to  free  one  parr  o\  the  Dominions  ot^thc  Plapues  of  Mankind  and  cast 
them  upon  anotlu-r  ?  Should  a  law  be  proposed  to  take  the  poor  of  one  Parisli,  and 
billet  them  upon  another,  would  not  all  the  world  but  the  parish  to  be  relieved,  ex- 
claim against  such  a  project  as  iniquitous  and  absurd  ?  Should  the  numberless 
Villains  of  London  and  Westminister,  be  suffered  to  escape  from  their  ['risuns,  to 
range  at  large  and  depredate  any  other  parts  of  the  Kingdom,  would  not  eve:v  man 
join  with  the  Sutierers  and  condemn  the  measures  as  hard  and  unreasonable  *  *  * 
There  are  ihr.uifndi  of  honest  men^  lahvrin^  in  Europe  ot  four  pence  a  <la\\  starving  in 
spite  of  all  their  efforts,  a  dead  •:veight  to  the  respecli^'e  parishes  to  ivhich  the\  belong  ,• 
tvho  ivithaut  any  other  /qualifications  than  Common  Sense,  Health  and  Strength,  might 
accumulate  estates  amongst  us,  as  many  ba-ve  done  already.  These,  and  not  the  others, 
are  the  men  that  shouhl  he  sent  oi'er.  for  the  better  peopling  the    Plantations^ 


in  the  Revolution, 


91 


Such    information    is    constantly     becoming    more    valuable 
to  a  country  wholly  unprecedented  in  history  in  its  absolute  re- 
liance upon  the  patriotism,  education,  common  sense,  and  mutual 
concession  of  its  citizens,  as  a  t^uide  for  the  future,  the  success 
of  which  is  necessarily  based  on  such  knowledge  of  the  past,  on 
wide    spread     intelligence,    a    mutual    adaptation,    and    regard 
for  its  founders  and   its  early  traditions.      If  anv  return  were 
expected,  for  the  labor  of  compiling  and  feebly  annotating  them, 
beyond  an  impression  that  perhaps  "  thedeed  in  the  doing  it  savors 
of  worth  ;  "  it  would  be  most  acceptable  m  the  evidence  that  they 
had  been  the  means  of  impressing  upon  some  earnest  reader,  the 
fact,  even  if  controverting  one  of  Mr.  Herbert  Spencer's  theo- 
ries, that   education  only   can  open   the  knowledge  of  the  origin 
of  a   nation,  inspire  a  proper  pride  in  it.  progress  and  insure  its 
permanency.      (Appendix  B.) 

^That  intelligence  and  ignorance  have  rarely  existed  long 
together  without  one  asserting  the  control.  That  while  some 
particles  of  this  great  aggregate  —  content  to  float  like  the 
smaller  esculant,  on  the  surface  of  a  seething  caldron,  relying 
on   an    exaggerated    estimate  of  their    weight,    perpetuity   and 

value,  by  their  tempoiarv  elevation  —  above  larger  roots may 

sneer  at  such  researches,  as  to  the  truly  great  men,  and  the  earlier 
unsuccessful  aspirants,  long  since  buried  underground  ;  as  un- 
necessary  to  uneducated  citizenship,  and  disparaging  to  spontan- 
eous statesmenship  ;  it  has  been  the  universal  testimony  of  men 
of  broader  development  and  experience,  that  nothing  can  give  a 
greater  facility  to  a  person  of  natural  capacity,  in  judging  of 
present  events,  than  the  appreciative  study  of  those  of  the  past. 
He  can  then  discover  many  old  masks  on  the  faces  of  new  actors 
on  the  public  stage,  and  that  they  are  often  too  large  for  the  new 
wearer.  That  the  best  critical  analysis  applicable  to  new  theo- 
12 


92 


Tories  or  Loyalists 


ries  of  t>;overnme{n,  is  bised  upon  a  knovv!e>Jge  of  their  success 
or  failure  in  earlier  times. 

Tha';  few  things  are  on  investisiatioii  discovered  to  be 
purely  original,  and  that  many  projects  hive  always  been  sus- 
tained by  facts,  some  by  fiction,  anJ  others  by  selfish  interest. 
To  prepare  hinself  by  study,  using  the  ample  means  supplied 
for  education  or  reading,  would  then  appear  to  be  the  natural 
means  of  availing  of  the  privilege  every  American  enjoys. 
With  these  we  readily  discover  the  relative  progress  of 
nations, that  where  intelligence  is  habitually  developed,  it  result* 
asa  necessity  in  the  prosperity  for  the  m  iny  ;  or  where  neglected, 
all  others  are  subordinated  to  the  advantage  of  the  few. 

By  such  research  it  is  easy  to  discover  that  there  have  been 
many  political  orators  in  the  country,  since  the  days  of  Patrick 
Henry,  and  many  financiers,  since  Robert  Morris,  but  none  who 
more  faithfully  devoted  available  talents  to  the  public.  That 
there  have  also  been  many  manipulations  and  fluctuations  in 
finance  since  then-  time,  in  which  fortunes  changed  in  owner- 
ship, and  rulers  of  the  Change  rose  and  fell.  That  there  have 
been  political  questions  and  popular  uprisings,  involving  bitter 
feeling,  and  threatening  violence,  in  which  the  S(jber,  common 
sense  of  the  country  —  much  of  it  grounded  on  the  study  of 
the  sin\ilar  crises  in  the  past  —  has  arisen  in  its  might,  come  to 
the  front,  and  with  a  strong  hand  torn  the  excited  actors  apart. 
It  can  be  seen  by  reflection  that  to  continue  to  accomplish  this, 
the  body  politic  must  continue  in  vigorous  health.  That  it 
demands  no  less  care  than  in  its  youth,  that  like  the  human  sys- 
tem, it  requires  the  healthy  circulation  of  the  blood  in  every 
organ,  to  insure  vigorous  manhood  and  well  preserved  longevity. 


in  the  Revolution, 


93 


That  krow  iedge,  equally  divided,  is  the  only  practicable  and 
lasting  communisir,  and  that  the  crafty  demagogue,  as  a  cunning 
alchemist,  with  ignorance  as  the  metal  to  be  fused  and  mingled 
with  rejected  theories,  proposes  a  panacea  to  satisfy  the  cravings 
of  all,  and  scatter  weaith,^  without    intelligence,  industry,  or 
thrift,  while  he  knows  that  by  the  substitution  of  intelligence  and 
education  he  would   in   time   produce  the  results  to  which  he 
claims  attention    by    pretending  to  seek,  but  in  doing   so    feels 
that   he  must  expose  the  empty  charlatanism    of  a    distribution 
of  money  without  that  of  the  elements  that  would  continue  the 
equality  of  its  division  ;  unless  accompanied  by  that  of  education 
and   its    frequent    companion,    thrift,   valuable    qualities    calcu- 
lated  to  ensure  its  care  and  increase. 

Those  who  voluntarily  assume  the  labor  and  outlay,  incurred 
in  the  management  ot  those  princely  private  charities,  which 
make  New  York,  even  alone,  an  asylum  for  the  world's  unfor- 
tunates, can  give  practical  testimony,  innh  as  to  the  immense 
increasing  clientage  which  presses  for  relief,  and  the  very  large 
proportion  it  includes  of  those  who  have  never  profited  by 
those  accessories  to  self  protection  from  chronic  destitution. 
(Appendix  C.) 

'«  Yes  "  replied  the   old  lady,  "  they  are   the  freshest  eggs  in  the  ma-ket       U. 
don't  think  so  just  brtak  .,ne  and  see  for  yourself."  '"  tne  ma.ket.      If  you 

The  magician  picked  up  ihe   cel'  and  lirnke  \t  ,,,,..„       t     u 
ten  dollar  gold   pieces   -"ed  fro.^^he^:rlV  shT.l    whiIh\t%"'£'rco;;;r 

"'?'i.'".ur''" /•"•""  ^""'>' '''  -'^ w«'^ '/i/«r.7  while  she 

gesticulated    wildly  and   insisted   that   he  should  return    it  on  the  spo7'    Wad   of 
complying  with  her  request,  however,  he  broke  another  eee   frorr,  wLh   f 
dollar  gold  pieces   rolled  out  among   the  vegetables      This   w/sTo^^^^^^ 
Orf,  who  told  him  ,o  /ea..  i.s,ajy  ,.  sA.  L  noL^^lTJaZ  ""'  ^"^ 


9+ 


Tories  or  Loyalists 


Dr.  Pollock,  in  a  recent  essay,  has  told  us  that  *' The 
uhimatc  object  of  natural  science  is  to  predict  events  —  to  say 
with  approximate  accuracy  what  will  happen  under  given  con- 
ditions. Every  special  department  of  science  occupies  itself 
with  predicting  events  of  a  particular  kind;  note,  also,  that 
each  scie;ice  occupies  itself  only  with  those  conditions  which 
are  material  for  its  own  purposes."  The  laws  of  science 
naturally  govern  both  men  and  nations.  While  all  of  their 
details  are  too  unlimiicrt  for  the  capacity  of  a  single  mind,  it 
would  appear  that  each  of  tho.^e  controlled  by  them  may  realize 
in  his  own  experience,  some  vaiiiabl;  developments  without 
assuming  to  devote  himself  to  any  sprcia'fv.  In  a  like  manner, 
some  study  of  the  rise  and  progress  of  government,  and  of  the 
conditions  which  have  influenced  prosperity  or  decadence,  may 
cause  the  reader  to  feel  that  he  is  more  capable  ol  "  predictmg 
events  of  a  particular  kind,"  such  as  those  incident  to  the  homo- 
geneous association  of  men  tor  the  difficult  task  of  govern- 
ment. But,  while  the  study  of  science  may  be  properly  di- 
vided, does  it  not  seem  that  in  the  constant  observation  of 
every  detail  or  the  administration  of  a  republican  government, 
where  each  citizen  is  equally  interested  in  its  safety  and  success, 
if  not  in  its  control,  all  should  devote  their  relative  capacit/, 
in  seeking  to  apply  to  it  all  those  principles  which  have  proved 
to  have  been  "  conditions  which  are  material  ''  to  perpetuity  n 
former  exptrience,  and  to  reject  such  errors  as  have  often  re- 
sulted in  national  disaster  ?  s' 

5'  A  widely  read  Journal  of  the  day  would  appear  to  confirm  the  value  of  uniting 
the  progress  of  those  material  "  conditions  "  in  enquiring  as  to  those  of  the  great 
metropolis  :  "  Are  there  no  dangers  to  day  ?  Is  the  tax  levy  a  myth,  with  its  ten 
millions  for  salaries?  Are  our  officials  models  of  purity,  capacity,  and  fidelity?  Are 
public  works  conducted  with  economy  ?  Is  the  administration  of  municipal  affairl 
prudent  and  business  like?  If  so,  let  us  continue  to  think  about  reform,  after  the 
politicians  have  arranged  the  division  of  the  spoils ;  let  us  hold  meetings,  appoint 
committees,  pass  resolutions,  after  the  succession  to  the  lucrative  municipal  offices 
hat  been  decided  upon." 


in  the  Revolution. 


95 


It  is  repeating  a  possibly  forgotten  truth,  that  Rome  was  in- 
wardly the  weakest  in  the  zenith  of  her  greatest  outward 
prosperity,  "  when  the  sun  "  it  was  said  '*  in  its  whole  meridian 
course  kissed  her  legionary  eagles  scattered  over  every  clime." 
That  its  downfall  occurred,  when  its  people,  palled  by  success, 
became  luxurious  and  enervated,  with  a  growing  fondness  for 
the  appetible,  but  enfeebling  confections,  spread  before  them  by 
political  pastry  cooks,  and  neglected  the  wholesome  diet  of  sub- 
stantial facts,  on  which  the  Conscript  fathers  subsisted  while 
erecting  the  edifice,  and  which  they  prescribed  for  the  nour- 
ishment of  their  posterity. 

The  inference  of  a  matter  of  fact  citizen,  when  told  how 
"  Nero  "  had  "  fiddled  when  Rome  was  burning,"  "  that  he  must 
have  been  very  fond  of  music  to  lose  so  grand  a  spectacle  "  might 
apply  to  all  of  us  who  in  neglecting  to  take  an  interest  in  pass- 
ing  events  are  uninformed  to  what  extent  we  are  excelling  Rome 
in  our  progress  and  whether  we  are  avoiding  all  oi  the  errors 
which  finally  culminated  in  her  downfall. 

Another  prosperous  one,  borne  rapidly  along  by  the  present 
luxurious  appliances,  may  only  glance  upon  the  Obelisk, 
impressed  with  the  obligation  conferred  by  its  generous  gift,  and 
skillful  transportation  to  a  new  world,  and  conjecture  whether 
the  Egyptian  or  Roman  chariots,  it  looked  down  upon  for  ages 
after  its  erection,  compared  in  finish  and  comfort,  with  a  modern 
brougham  ;  but  not  whether  Western  Union,  Union  Pacific,  or 
any  other  Union,  will  stand  as  erect  and  last  as  long  — through 
the  succession  of  long  dynasties  of  Ptolemies  and  Cssars  to  that 
of  ''  City  Fathers,"  without  similar  care  and  scientific  assistance. 
The  correspondent  at  Rome  of  the  "New  York  Evening  Post" 
recently  said   "  Brescia  is   still  excited   by  the  great   theme  of 


96 


Tories  or  I^oyaiists 


Arnaldo.  But  we  are  getting  a  little  too  much  of  this  historical 
archsologv.  Manuta  is  preparing  to  observe  the  nineteenth 
centennary  (>f"  Virgil  ;  Arezzo  will  soon  keep  that  of  Guido 
Monaco,  the  inventor  of  musical  notes  ;  Arpim  that  of  Cicero, 
and  Urbino  that  of  Raphael.  Some  one  sagely  observes  "that 
instead  of  studying  so  intently  the  history  of  great  Italians  dead, 
it  were  better  to  improve  the  present  generation,  and  expect 
great  deeds  from  those  who  live." 

Although  it  is  true  that  Italy  has  not  in  later  generations 
equalled  those  ot  the  past  in  producing  additions  to  her 
long  line  of  illustrious  names;  and  that  her  progress  in  this  has 
been  outstripped  by  manv  nations,  unborn  when  she  was  already 
grey,  it  is  proper  to  remember  her  heavy  fall  in  the  race  of 
destiny,  and  how  slow  the  recovery  is. 

If  the  traveler  in  that  classic  land  still  finds  himself  rather 
dreaming  of  her  former  greatnCvSs  than  awakened  to  evidences 
of  a  new  progress,  would  it  not  appear  that  it  was  therefore 
more  especially  needed  to  recall  past  triumphs,  to  inspire  in  a 
laterjgcneration  a  spirit  of  pride,  a  desire  to  emulate,  and  a  search 
for  the  appliances  with  which  it  was  secured.  At  least  it  would 
seem  natural  to  us.  living  in  a  country  unpeopled  by  civilization 
at  the  time  when  they  were  wearing  its  laurels,  to  feel  grateful 
that  we  are  able  to  profit  bv  the  results  of  their  early  labors,  which 
we  enjoy  in  our  schools,  galleries  and  industries,  and  that  each 
remembrance  of  their  name,  recalling  their  example  may  perhaps 
inspire  imitation  of  their  progress.  That  in  their  own  land  the 
persistence  in  thus  recording  those  memories,  must  with  wider 
educational  preparation,  in  time  incite  many  additional  aspirants, 
to  the  fame  of  those  whose  self  erected  monuments  tower  so 
near  them,  and  still  inspire  such  efforts,  in  keeping  their  memory 
green. 


r. 


in  the  Revolution, 


97 


., 


Have  not  such  revivals  of  the  past,  often  held  to  be  senti- 
mental, a  practical  use?  What  reflecting  man  can  pause 
near  that  Obelisk  without  recalling  its  wierd  history,  the 
scenes  it  has  witnessed,  and  the  eyes  that  have  looked 
upon  it  in  its  forty  centuries,  the  changes  of  faith,  dynasties, 
and  conditions  of  the  human  race  which  it  records  but  of 
which  it  cannot  speak  ?  He  may  study  its  rugged  silence,  read 
there  the  history,  the  progress,  vicissitudes  and  relative  per- 
petuation of  men  and  things,  and  gain  a  lesson  of  the  littleness 
of  a  single  life,  which  passes  away  without  some  honored  record, 
only  adding  another  to  the  billions  who  have  tread  beneath  its 
shadow. 

Nearly  three-quarters  of  a  century  ago  Joseph  Delaplaine,  of 
Philadelphia,  an    earlv  appreciator   of  the   association   between 
that  ancient  republic  and   our  own,  then  young  ;  at   least  in  ihe 
coincidence  of  the   early  development  of  greatness,  said— with 
an  uninterrupted  flow  of  enthusiasm  —  in  the  prospectus  of  the 
"Collection  of  the  Portraits  of  Distinguished  Americans,"  which 
still  usefully  recalls  his  own  name:     "  With  a  pride   similar   to 
his  who,  in  the  mansion  of  his  ancestors,  loves  to  dwell  upon  the 
venerable  array  of  their  portraits  which  surrounds  him  ;  and.  by 
the  almost  living  glances  which  dart  from  the  canvas,  feels  him- 
self unconsciously  awed  to  virtue,  will  the  unborn  citizens  of  this 
expanding   hemisphere,  day  after  day,  delight   to  sojourn  amidst 
the  forms  of  the  fathen  of  their  country,  and  depart   from   the 
exhibition  with   newer   and    stronger  aspirations   after   virtuous 
renown  !      '  I  have  often,'  to  quote  the  language  of  the  historian 
ot   the   Jugurthinian    war,  'heard    that   Quintus    .Vlaximus   and 
Publius   Scipio,   and    other   illustrious   men    of  our   city,   were 
accustomed   to  declare,  when  thcv  looked  upon   the  portraits  of 
their  ancestors,  that   they  felt  their  minds  most  vehemently  ex- 


9« 


Tories  or  Loyalists 


cited  to  virtue.  Not,  indeed,  that  the  impression  or  the  figure 
produced  suc'h  powerful  effects  upon  them,  but  by  the  recollec- 
tions or  the  achievements  of  these  great  characters,  that  a  flame 
was  created  in  their  breasts  not  to  be  quelled  until  they  should 
have  reached  an  equal  elevation  of  fame  and  glory.'  'The 
history  of  such  men,'  says  the  learned  translator  of  Plutarch, 
*  is  a  continuous  lesson  of  practical  morality,'  and  what  could 
be  a  more  pleasing  and  impressive  history  of  this  country  than 
that  which  would  be  exhibited  in  the  well-arranged  portraits  of 
those  by  whom  its  moral  and  political  grandeur  was  founded 
and  raised  to  perfection  ?  The  countenance  of  a  Washington 
would  mark  the  epoch  ot  its  military,  and  of  a  Franklin  of  its 
philosophical  glory  ;  and  all  the  galaxy  of  genius  around  them, 
while  furnishing  the  materials  for  memory  to  work  upon,  would 
create  ntiv  heroes,  and  stimulate  new  sages,  new  statesmen  and  new 
orators.^' 

*'  When  time  shall  have  swept  awav  the  splendid  train  of 
our  earliest  philosophers,  statesmen  and  warriors,  to  swell  the 
gathering  of  the  grave  ;  when  the  tongue  of  genius  shall 
moulder  in  gloomy  silence  ;  when  the  eye  of  the  orator  shall 
be  closed  in  darkness,  and  the  spiritual  fires  of  its  glance  no 
longer  kindle  the  dormant  intellects  around  ;  when'the  warrior's 
arm  shall  be  sinewless,  and  by  the  side  ot  his  decaying  form  the 
sword  of  his  triumphs  shall  lie  rusting  ;  when  the  patrons  of 
the  soil  shall  have  become  an  ingredient  in  its  physical  amal- 
gama  ;  a  generous  and  grateful  posterity  will  rank  amongst  the 
first  of  its  public  institutions,  that  which  will  afford  them,  in 
effects,  the  delights  of  a  sweet  and  familiar  intercourse  with 
beings  endeared  to  them  by  the  brilliance  of  their  talents,  and 
their  virtues,  as  well  as  by  the  benefits  which  thev  conferred 
upon  the  land  of  their  birth." 


m  the  Revolution. 


99 


Since  this  enthusiastic  patriot  thus  wrote,  with  many  of  his 
subjects  still  alive,  a  large  portion  of  a  ct-ntury  has  given  u> 
better  light  than  he  possessed  ! 

Many  had  then  been  born  under  the  swav  of  a  government 
which  they  once  loving,  had  lived  to  hate,  and  doubtless  the 
most  modest  of  those  who  had  aided  in  its  downfall  hoped 
that  their  names  would  survive,  often  recalled  in  history  and 
the  succession  of  their  descendants. 5»  Thev  witnessed,  as 
it  were,  the  setting  out  of  a  small  train,  at  moderate  speed, 
which  we  see  vastly  extended  by  increase  and  emigration, 
wheeling  at  a  terrific  speed  over  a  widely  extended  track.  One 
later  accession,  that  of  California,  with   nearly  189,000  square 

5»  Horatio  Seymour  a  life  lung  appreciatoi  ami  collector,  of  the  records  of  the 
achievemcnti,  of  those  who  opened  the  wiy  to  the  many  honors  tii.U  liavi-  been  con- 
ferred upon  or  ortired  to  iiim,  in  reply  to  an  invitation  to  unite  in  the  Bi-Centennial 
Celebration  of  the  ancient  town  of  Yonkers  —  a  very  interesting  occasion  with  which 
the  contributor  as  an  old  resident  of  the  neighborhood  was  gratified  in  being  remem- 
bered, in  its  mariagement— has  lately  written  to  its  Mayor  some  valuable  truthi 
sustaining  these    impressions. 

"I  regret  that  the  state  of  my  health  will  not  allow  me  to  attend  the  Bi-Centen- 
nial Celebration  at  Phillipse  Hall  at  Yonkers.  It  is  gratifying  to  learn  that  through- 
out our  Stale  there  is  shown  a  desire  to  mark  with  monuments  spots  of  historic 
interest,  and  to  collea  and  preserve  all  things  which  throw  light  upon  the  history 
of  the  past. 

These  things  not  only  show  but  they  create  a  spirit  of  patriotism,  they  give  value 
and  interest  to  the  scenes  which  they  mark  or  illustrate.  By  them  the  past  speaks 
to  the  present.  They  lell  us  much  of  the  history  of  early  events  ;  they  teach  us  our 
duties,  and  create  higher  standards  of  patriotism  and  virtue. 

Monuments,  historical  societies,  and  all  arrangements  to  collect  and  preserve  papers 
and  objects  relating  to  the  past,  not  only  teach  us  of  the  acts  .ind  virtues  of  the 
dead,  but  they  also  show  the  character  of  the  living  and  mark  the  civilization  of  the 
people.  Monuments  in  enduring  stone  have  for  many  centuries  been  silent  but 
potent  teachers  of  duty  and  devotion  to  the  public  welfare.  Even  now,  after  the 
lapse  of  many  centuries,  if  their  time-worn  remains  were  swept  away,  the  v.orld 
would  feel  the  loss  of  cjjects  which  remind  us  of  our  duties  to  the  public. 

Heretofore  we  have  reason  to  mourn  the  want  of  historical  collections  through- 
out our  State  which  would  show  its  citizens  had  a  just  sense  of  tiie  great  and  varied 
events  of  its  history.  This  dishonored  not  the  dead  but  the  living.  Your  celebra- 
tion, and  others  of  a  like  character,  prove  that  our  citizens  are  waking  up  to  their 
duties,  and  mean  to  make  the  public  familiar  with  its  events,  the  most  varied  and 
far  reaching  of  any  portion  of  our  country." 

13 


lOO 


Tories  or  Loyalists 


miles  of  territory,  over  68,000  more  than  the  whole  of  Great 
Britain,  best  illustrates  the  development  of  her  rebellious  child. 

By  the  suppression  of  the  Tory  or  his  departure,  by  the 
absorption  of  those  men  of  figure  who  then  largely  owned  the 
colonies  or  controlled  their  afFairs,  by  the  extension  of  a  limited 
franchise  to  one  unbounded  and  unprecedented  in  its  beneficence, 
by  the  want  of  much  consideration  for  family  service,  in  public 
affairs,  and  by  the  omission  to  a  great  extent  of  any  veneration  for 
official  position,  we  are  all  now  equals  before  the  law  ;  coequal 
sovereigns  like  the  old  Electors  Palatine  who  chose  by  vote  the 
Emperor.  Still  those  patriot  fathers  would  seem  to  be  the  parents 
by  adoption  of  every  citizen,  particularly  of  those  who  are  coming 
to  wear  the  crown  which  they  created,  at  least  until  by  the 
prosperity  (ipen  to  most  who  seek  it,  they  in  turn,  create 
positions,  dating  from  their  birth  or  arrival  in  the  New  World 
in  which  each  one,  equalling  the  usefulness  of  those  predeces- 
sors may  claim  to  be  the  "Rudolph  of  Hapsburg "  of  his 
own  family,  by  contributing  as  honored  a  portrait  and  name  as 
theirs  to  posterity. 

The  acquisition  of  property,  gives  an  additional  interest 
in  th«,  nationality  to  each  one  who  achieves  an  ownership, 
however  small,  and  its  distribution  amongst  many  in  such 
divisions  is  the  greatest  guarantee  of  perpetuity.  A  State  will 
be  found,  in  all  time,  to  have  been  most  prosperous,  where 
property  was  most  divided,  and  where  the  extremes  of  the  very 
rich,  and  the  very  poor,  are  exceptional,  for  the  reason  that  the 
hundreds  of  one  man  by  the  laws  of  nature  are  as  valuable  to 
hi  m  as  the  millions  of  another.  But  there  is  a  common  security 
under  a  thoroughly  popular  form  of  government,  that  even  the 
man  who  owns  one  dollar,  is  a  stockholder.  We  watch  our  in- 
vestment, in  all  other  securities,  and  if  in  stocks  study  the  daily 


tn  the  Revolution, 


lOI 


prices.  Do  we  sufficiently  realize  that  they  are  mere  "  con- 
nections "  with  the  honest  administration  and  prosperity  of  the 
government,  and  exist  in  its  permanency  alone  ?  Would  it 
not  seem  that  any  vigilance  displayed,  in  the  selection  of  trus- 
tees of  those  lesser  securities,  with  a  view  to  their  prosperity 
and  honor,  must  apply  with  greater  force  to  that  of  the  govern- 
ment, which  is  the  trunk  line. 

It  a  stockholder  suspects  that  his  property  is  controlled  by 
directors  forced  upon  him  by  bargain  and  traffic,  by  primaries 
to  which  he  has  no  access,  by  organizations,  machines  or  rintrs 
:ormed  to  control  the  a'rents  and  property  of  any  corporation, 
in  the  interests  of  a  self-selected  few,  would  he  not  if  he  had 
read  of  it,  conceive  that  it  was  in  danger  of  returning  to  a  class 
government,  more  dangerous  than  the  one  that  was  annihilated 
by  the  Revolution  of   1776  .' 

If  the  air  were  tainted  by  the  fumes  of  a  conflagration  would  he 
r.ot  seek  for  its  location  and  flood  it  with  water  for  the  common 
good  ;  and  if  it  was  filled  with  nauseous  rumors  of  selfish,  and 
even  dishonest   combinations,  for    the   control  of  his  corporate 
property,  turn  his  attention  to  the  necessity  of  vigilance  and  of 
putting  trusted  parties  in  its  charge  ?      All  political  history  shows 
that  two  parties  are  necessary  to  a  State,  each  a  safety  valve  to 
the  other,  that  a  community  is  no  sufferer  by  the  parliamentary 
discussion  of  questions  of  policy,  where  its    people  differ,  but 
that  when  such  issues  are  avoided,  by  the  fear  oi  either  or  both 
parties,  to  assume  a  policy,  then  there  is  greater  danger  in  com- 
binations of  the  worst  element  in  both,  for  impure  and  selfish  leg- 
islation.    That  all  coalitions  have  been  looked  upon  with  doubt 
we  gather  from    such    history,  that   the   most  competent,   are 
often   the  most   modest,   in  claiming   place,  while  all   countries 
have  been  supplied  with  varied  voluntary  material  for  office  and 


I02 


Tories  or  Loyalists 


power  from  the  best,  down  to  such  as  that  which  assassinated  a 
president,  because  a  worthless  lite  seemed  to  him  unfitting  for 
reward,  as  a  minister  to  Austria  or  consul  to  Paris  1 

Doubtless  many  cultivated  readers,  versed  —  as  an  example  — 
in  the  teachings  of  Spencer,  Huxley  and  Tyndall,  perhaps  from 
the  absence  of  an  appreciative  taste,  disregard  the  lessons  of  that 
history,  of  which  most  men,  are  unknowingly  forming  part,  either 
by  action  or  its  neglect.     All  concede  the  value  of  patriotism, 
many  are  often  critical  as  to  its  presence  as  an  impulse  ;  possibly 
few    consider   that   merely    as   an    accomplishment    it    can    be 
acquired  by  the  study  of  its  many  results,  or  of  the  effects  of  its 
absence.     A  less  cultivated  but  patriotic  and   shrewd   observer 
like  Mrs.  Grundy— whose  views  have  often  become  the  reflex  of 
public  opinion — is  in  many  cases  mere  useful,  than  a  more  learned 
perfunctionary  and  statistical  manipulator.   (Appendix  D.) 
'      In  complying  with  his  promise  to  the  editor,  the  contributor 
has  sought,  in  adding  some  material  connected  wirh  his  under- 
taking, to  incidentally  consider  our  progress  in    the  eradication 
of  the  complaints  against  the  government  on  which  we  were 
founded,  and  the  uses  we  were  making  of  a  wonderful  legacy, 
by  following  past  history. 

That  gentleman's  thoughtful  note,  at  the  end  of  his  own 
contribution  —  as  to  the  difficulties  under  which  they  have  been 
loosely  thrown  together,  gives  the  opportunity  to  say  that  he 
has  neither  seen  the  manuscript,  nor  is  he  responsible  for  its 
contents,  its  contribution  being  purely  voluntary. 

Not  happening  to  have  met  either  himself  or  General  de 
Peyster  since  it  was  undertaken,  and  having  no  knowledge  of 
what  the  latter  had  contributed  to  this  accidentally  triple  asso- 
ciation, he  fears  that  in  his  friendly  desire  to  aid  in  his  natura 


in  the  Revolution. 


103 


effort  to  vindicate  the  memory  of  his  relative,  he  may  have  re- 
peated or  controverted  some  of  the  views,  which  he  has  doubtless, 
with  his  usual  independency,  asserted,  Tn  either  such  event,  it 
has  been  his  object  to  express,  the  sympathy  study  teaches  to 
humanity,  as  to  the  unfortunate  fate  and  hardships  of  the  Loyal- 
ists. In  doing  this  he  does  not  feel  that  he  detracts  from  his  own 
fealty  to  the  government  formed  on  their  ruin,  in  which  it  is 
his  pride  to  have  been  bred  to  feel  the  responsibility  of 
aiding  to  hand  it  down,  as  a  home  of  freedom  wisely  adminis- 
tered, to  future  generations.  This  explanation  appears  proper 
to  account  for  any  apparent  want  of  cohesion,  or  accord,  in  the 
expression  of  individual,  and  therefore  possibly  conflicting 
opinion,  in  arriving  at  a  common  purpose,  of  recalling  the 
memory  of  historical  characters. 

On  a  final  reading  of  this  contribution,  it  suggests  some  resem- 
blance to  a  trunk  hastily  packed  for  a  journey,  with  an  oppor- 
tunity for  selection  from  a  sufficient  wardrobe,  which  when 
resorted  to,  is  found  to  contain  some  articles  better  fitted  for 
the  seclusion  of  a  private  apartment,  than  for  public  use,  and  to 
lack,  many  others  more  adaptable,  but  improvidently  left  at 
home. 

Spring  House,  Richfiild, 
September,    1882. 


APPENDIX    A. 


COL.   GUY  JOHNSON'S   LETTER   (page  77). 


The  following  letter  from  Col.    Guy  Johnson    to  his  uncle,  is   also   found   in  Dr 
Emmett's  collection.     It  gives  some  p.irticul.irs  illustrative  of  the  surroundings  of 
both. 


N-  York,  Ff/.>r.  10,  1777 
My  DEAR  Sir  William,  '     "  i- 

_     I  have  just    now    had    the  pleasure  of  receiving   vour    very  kind   letter  of  the  id 
inst.,  with  one  from  Dr.  Di-ase*,  another  from  Brother  Claus,  for  which  I  am  much 
obliged  to  them       It  has  vexed   me  a  good  .:eal   to  hear  that  your   Votes  did    not  go 
up  early.       They  went  by    John  Glen,  and   Gainet   assures  me    he  has    forwarded  a 
sett  since.      A^   the  titles  of  several   bills  are  altered   in  the   Committees,  it  may  be 
necessary  to  acquaint  you  tha'  the  Road  biUand  money  bill  for  building  u  Ct    House 
&c.,   are  passed  through  every  form  and  the  Tavern  Bill,  Swine  Bill,  Wolf  Bill  and' 
Ferry  Bill,  will  be  in  a  very  tew  days.      Vou  vsill  rind  me  voting  on  a  side  that  some 
people  might    not    expect.      It  will    all  be    accounted  for   in  due  time,   but  is  chiefly 
owmg  to  certain    difficulties    imposed    on  the    Governor.      The  other   day  they  were 
for  saddling  a   1^50   per   annum    Salary,  on  the  Judges  of  Circuit,  to   be  paid   out  of 
our  County,  but  after   much   difficulty,  I  got  it  laid  general  on  the   Province,  Major 
Skenej  is  just  going  tor  Ireland.      He  has  the  other  day  got  his  place  established  as 
the  County    town.     The    Racquet   is  arrived.      All  Peace    at   home.      The   General 
has  got   the  King's    leave   to  go  to   England,  and    will   sail  in  June  with    his  family 
Haldemand^   comes   to   take  the  command;   and   Governor   Tryon  (it  is  said)  wi'll 
have  the  vacant  Red  Ribband.      He  has  taken  much  pains  about  the  Indian  matters 
Banyarll  advises  to  get  an  Act  tor  Fairs  and    Markets  in  lieu  of   the   Ordinance    but 
the  Governor  choses  the  latter.      In  the  Charter  for  the  Church  a  description  of  the 
Glebe  is  absolutely  necessary  and  how  the  right  presentation  should  go.      I  hope  you 

*  Dr.  John  Dease  was  an  Executor  and  Trustee  under  bir  William's  will 
^^t^Hugh    Game,   editor  of  the  Niw    fori   Mercury,  printed  in  Hanover  iquare  ;  eitablishrd  in 

hv*R':,°,l;£''"'''  ^y"'^  *"'  '""''''  ^'  S'«'=n«b<'r""g"  iirow  Whitehall,,  and  wai  actively  employed 
oy  Burgoyne  in  his  invasion.  '     "'f'")"" 

§  Gen.  Gage  came  in  lieu  of  Haldlmand. 
I  Goldiboro  Baiiyar. 


io6 


Toreis  or  Lovalists 


^vill  continue  your  Parental  attention  to  Polly  and  the  little  ones,  she  is  1  believe 
surprised  1  stay  so  long  and  I  eagerly  wish  to  return.  The  girls  are  well  and  much 
esteemed.  The  like  may  be  said  with  great  truth  of  Sir  John.  He  will  return  with 
me  and  doubtles*  lay  before  you,  the  final  determination  of  the  Family  here,  respect- 
ing his  union  which  I  see  nothing  to  prevent.  The  lady*  is  a  fine  Genteel  Girl, 
much  esteemed  as  well  on  acco't  of  the  goodness  of  her  Temper,  as  of  her  uncommon 
abilities,  and  she  is  ready  to  follow  him  anywhere. 

The  man  calls  for  my  Letter,  so  that  1  can  only  beg  a  continuance  of  your  cor- 
respondence, which  yields  me  much  real  pleasure,  and  assure  you  once  more  of  the 
Cordial  Wishes  I  offer  for  your  Health  and  happiness,  and  the  true  Affection  with 
which  I  subscribe  myself, 

My  dear  Sir, 

Your  dutiful  son  and  faithful  servant, 

G.  JoHNSON.f 

Sir  Wm.  Johnson,  Bt. 


APPENDIX  B. 


MR.     HERBERT     SPENCER'S     FIRST    IMPRESSIONS    OF     AMERICA 

(page  91). 


The  immense  progress  of  America,  attracting  the  attention  of  Europe,  makes  it  the 
field  for  that  observing  travel,  long  confined  to  the  seats  of  departed  greatness.  The 
Emperor  of  Brazil,  Petermann,  Nordenskjold  and  a  Baker  Pacha,  all  notable  in  explor- 
ation, Hughes,  Dean  Stanley,  Thackeray,  Dickens,  observers  of  character,  the  Prince 
of  Wales,  and  Alexis  and  the  Duke  of  Argyle,  have  come  to  us  in  late  years  j  others 
are  following,  some  of  them  less  known  but  fully  as  competent,  to  view  and 
estimate  its  reputed  greatness.  Dr.  Mackenzie,  an  eminent  specialist  of  London, 
has  recently  made  a  wide,  rapid  and  intelligent  exploration,  and  is  now  succeeded 
by  Herbert  Spencer,  noted  for  the  independence  with  which  he  has  often  asserted 
advanced  ideas  on  questions  intended  to  affect  humanity.  He  who  looks  at  him- 
lelf  ill  a  glass,  often  derives  a  different  impression  from  that  of  another,  who 
disinterestedly  criticises  a  portrait  satisfactory  to  the  owner.  An  interview,  given 
to  the  public  since  the  foregoing  crude  inferences  were  printed,  J  and  arriving  in  some 

♦  Mix  Mary  Watts,  daughter  of  John  Watti,  Eiq.,  of  New  York,  to  whom  Sir  John  was 
married  on  the  19th  of  June  following. 

t  Col.  Guy  Johnson  wai  then  a  new  Member  of  the  Colonial  Aisembly.  See  Stone  1  "  Sir 
William  Johnion,"  vol.  t,  page  559. 

X   N*w  Ttri  Tlmn,  Oct.  loth. 


in  the  Revolution. 


107 


cases  at  difterern  conclusions,  appears  to  be  an  unfinished  sketcJi  worthy  to  he  hung 
by  the  side  of"  the  completed  picture,  to  which  Delaplaine'  referred.  If  in  express- 
ing his  views,  as  a  humanitarian,  upon  the  progress  of  a  sapling  torn  from  the 
royal  oak,  any  impression  of  national  jealousy  is  suggested,  is  it  not  well  to  recall  the 
truthful  adage  "  fas  est  et  ah  hoste  doceri."  Mr.  Spencer,  with  the  appreciation 
wanting  in  the  Ohelisk,  and  with  some  of  its  experience  derived  from  studv  of  pro- 
gressive races  and  their  developmeni.  After  speaking  of  inferential  facts,  being  asked  : 
"  Might  not  thismi.-representation  have  been  avoijcd  by  admitting  interviewers .>" 
replies, 

"  Possibly;   but,  in  the  first  place,  I  have  not  been   sufficiently  well;   and,  in  the 
second  place,  I  am  averse    to  the   system.      To  have  to  submit  to  cross  examination 
under  penalty  of  having  ill  nntured  things  said    if  one    refuses,  is  an  invasion   of  per- 
sonal liberty  vvhicli    I    dislike.      M.jreover,  there   is  implied    what   seems    to    me  an 
undue  love  of  personalities.      Your  journals  rccali  a  witticism  of  the  poet  Heine    who 
said    that    '  when  a   woman   writes  a  novel,  she  has   one   eye  on   the    paper  and  the 
other  on   some   man  —  except  the    Countess   Hahn-halin,  who   has    only   one   eye." 
In  like  marine'-,  it  secma  to  me  tliat  in  the  political  discussions  that  fill   your  papers 
everything  is  treated  in  connection  with  the  doings   of  individuals  —  some  candidate 
for  office,   or    some  "  boss  "    or    wire-puller.      I  think    it  not   improbable   that   this 
appetite  for  personalties,  among  other  evils,  generates  this  recklessnt;s  of  statement. 
The  appetite    must  be   ministered  to  ;   and  in    the   eagerness  to  satisfy   its    cravings," 
there  comes  less  and  less  care  respecting  the  correctness  of  what  is  said." 
"Has  what  you  have  seen  .uiswered  your  exjiectations  r  " 

"It  has  far  exceeded  them.  Such  books  about  Ameiicaas  I  had  looked  into  had 
given  me  no  adequate  idea  of  the  immense  defdopments  of  matenal  ci'vilhatkn 
which  I  have  everywhere  found.  The  extent,  wealth,  and  magnificence  of  your  cities, 
and  especially  the  splendor  of  New  York,  have  altogether  astonished  me.  Thouch 
I  have  not  visited  the  wonder  of  the  West,  Chicago,  yet  some  of  your  minor  mcdeirn 
places,  such  as  Cleveland,  have  sutficiently  amazed  me  by  the  marvelous  results  of 
one  generation's  activity.  Occasionally,  when  I  have  been  in  places  of  some  10.000 
inhabitants,  where  the  telephone  is  in  general  use.  I  have  felt  somewhat  ashamed 
of  our  own  unenterprising  towns,  many  of  which  of  50,000  inhabitants  and  more, 
make  no  use  of  it." 

"  I  suppose  you  recognize  in  these  results  the  great  benefit  of  free  institutions  '" 
"  Ah,  now  conies  one  of  the  inconveniences  of  interviewing.      I  have  been  ir.  the 
country  less  than  two    months,  have   seen    but  a  relatively   small  part  of  it,  and  but 
comparatively  few  people,  and  yet  you  wish  from  nu-  a  definite  opinion  on  a  difficult 
question." 

"  Perhaps  you   will    answer,   subject   to  the    qualification   that  you    are  but  giving 
your  first  impressions  .'" 

Well,  with  that   understanding,  I  may  reply   that,  though    free   institutions    have 
been  partly    the   cause,  I  think    they   Jiave  not  been   the  chief  cause.      In   the   first 

place,  the   American  people    have    come  into  possession  of  an  unparalled   fortune 

the  mineral  wealth  and  the  vast  tracts  of  virgin  soil  producing  abundantly  with  small 
cost  of  culture.  Manifestly  that  alone  goes  a  long  way  toward  producing  this 
enormous  prosperity.  Then  thev  have  profited  by  inheriting  all  the  arts,  appliances 
and  methods  developed  by  older  societies,  while  leaving  behind  the  obstructions  existing 
in  them.  They  have  been  able  to  pick  and  choose  from  the  products  of  all  past  ex- 
perience,  appropriating  the  good  and  rejecting  the  bad.  Then,  besides  these  favors 
of  fortune,  there  are  factors  proper  to  themselves.  1  perceive  in  American  faces 
generally,  a  great  amount  of  determination —  a  kind  of  "  do  or  die  "  expression  •  and 

14  . 


io8 


Tories  or  Loyalists 


this  trait  of  character,  joined  witli  a  power  of'  work  exceeding  tliat  of  any  other 
people,  of  course  produces  an  unparalleled  rapidity  of  projrress.  Once  more,  there  it 
the  inventiveness  which  stimulated  by  the  need  for  economizing  labor,  has  bten  so 
wisely  fostered.  Am  )ng  us  in  England  there  are  many  foolish  people  who  while 
thinking  that  a  man  who  toils  with  his  hands  lias  an  equitable  claim  to  the  product, 
and  if  he  has  special  skill  may  rightly  have  the  advantage  of  it,  also  hold  ihat  if  a 
man  toils  with  his  brain,  peili.ips  for  vears,  and,  uniting  genius  with  perseverance, 
evolves  some  valuable  invention,  the  public  may  rightly  cl.iini  the  benefit  The 
Americans  have  been  more  far  seeing.  The  enormous  museum  of  patents  which  I 
saw  at  Washington  is  significant  of  the  attention  paid  to  inventors'  claims,  and  the 
Nation  profits  immensely  .'rom  having  in  this  directic.n  (though  not  in  all  (jthers) 
recognized  property  in  me  ital  products.  Beyond  ijuestion,  in  respect  of  mechanical 
appliances,  the  Americans  are  ahead  ot'  all  nations.  If  along  with  your  material 
progress  there  went  equal  progress  of  a  higher  kind,  there  would  remain  nothing  to 
be  wished." 

"  That  is  an  ambiguous  qualification.  What  do  you  mean  by  it  ?" 
"  You  will  understand  when  I  tell  you  what  I  was  thinking  of  the  other  day. 
After  pondering  over  what  1  have  seen  of  vour  vast  manufacturing  and  trading  es- 
tablishments, the  rush  of  traffic  in  your  street  cars  and  elevated  railways,  your  gigan- 
tic .'lotels  and  Fifth-.u'enue  palaces,  I  was  suddenly  reminded  of  die  Italian  republics 
of  the  Middle  Ages,  and  recalled  the  fact  that  while  there  was  growing  up  in  them 
great  commercial  activity,  a  ilevelopment  of  the  arts  which  made  them  the  envy  ot 
Europe,  and  a  building  of  prince'y  mansions  which  continue  to  be  the  admiration  of 
trave'.ets,  their  people  were  gradually  losing   their  freedom." 

"  Do  you  mean  this  as  a  suggestion  that  we  are  doing  the  like  ?" 
"  It  seems  to  me  that  you  are.  You  retain  the  forms  of  freedom,  but  so  far  as  I 
can  gather,  there  has  been  a  considerable  loss  of  the  substance.  It  is  true  that 
those  'who  rule  you  do  not  do  it  by  means  of  retainers  armed  with  sw(/rdb  ;  but  they 
do  it  through  regiments  of  men  armed  with  voting-papers,  who  obey  the  word  of 
command  as  loyally  as  did  the  dependents  of  the  old  feudal  nobles,  and  who  thus 
enable  their  leaders  to  override  the  genera!  will  and  make  the  community  submit 
to  their  exactions  as  effectually  as  their  prototypes  of  old.  It  is  doubtiess  true  that 
each  of  your  citizens  votes  for  the  candid.ite  he  chooses  for  this  or  that  office  from 
President  downward,  but  his  liand  is  guided  by  a  power  behind,  which  leaves  him 
fc.ircely  any  choice.  '  Use  your  political  power  as  we  tell  you,  or  else  throw  it 
away,"  is  the  alternative  offered  to  the  citizen.  The  political  machinery  as  it  is  now 
worked  has  little  resemblance  to  that  contemplated  at  the  outset  of  your  political 
life.  Manifestly,  those  who  framed  your  Constitution  never  dreamed  that  20,000 
citizens  would  go  to  the  poll  led  by  a  "  boss."  America  exemplifies,  at  the  other 
end  of  the  social  scale,  a  change  analogous  to  that  which  has  taken  place  under 
iundry  despotisms.  You  know  that  in  Japan,  before  the  recent  revolution,  the 
divine  ruler,  the  Mikado,  nominally  supreme,  was  practically  a  puppet  in  the  hands 
of  his  chief  Minister  the  Shogun.  Here  it  seems  to  me  that  the  '  sovereign  people  ' 
is  fast  becoming  a  puppet  which  moves  and  speaks  as  wire-pullers  determine." 
"  Then  you  think  that  republican  institutions  are  a  failure." 

"  By  no  means  !  I  imply  no  such  conclusion.  Thirty  years  ago,  when  often  dis- 
cussing politics  with  an  English  friend,  and  defending  republican  institutions,  as  I 
always  have  done  and  do  still;  and  when  he  urged  against  me  the  ill-working  of 
such  institutions  over  here  ;  I  habitually  rejilicd  that  the  Americans  got  their  form 
of  government  by  a  happy  accident,  not  by  normal  progress,  and  that  they  would 
have  to  go  back  before  they   could  go  forward.      What  has  since  happened  seems   to 


in  the  Revo Lut tun. 


109 


me  to  have  justified  that  view  ^  and  what  I  see  now  confirmi  me  in  it.  America  ii 
showing  on  a  larger  scale  th.m  ever  before  that  '  paper  constitutions  '  will  not  work 
as  they  are  intended  to  worlt.  The  truth,  first  recognized  by  Mackintosh,  that 
'  constitutions  are  not  made,  but  grow,'  which  is  part  of  the  larger  truth  that 
locieties  throughout  their  whole  organizations  are  not  made  but  grow  at  once,  when 
accepted,  dis|)oses  of"  the  notion  that  you  can  work,  as  you  hope,  any  artificially  dr. 
Vised  system  of  government.  It  becomes  an  inference  that  if  your  political  structure 
has  been  manufactured,  and  not  grown,  it  will  forthwith  begin  to  grow  into  some- 
thing different  from  that  intended — something  in  harmony  with  the  natures  of 
citizens  an.l  the  conditions  under  which  the  society  exists.  And  it  evidently  has 
been  so  with  you.  Within  the  forms  of  your  Constitution  there  has  grown  up  this 
organization  of  professional  politicians,  altogether  uncontempl.ued  at  tlie  outset, 
wliich  has  bcc(jme  in  large  measure  the  ruling  power." 

"  But  will  not  education  and  the  diffusion  of  political  knowledge  tit  men  for  free 
institutions  ?" 

"  No.  It  is  essentially  a  question  of  character,  and  only  in  a  secondary  degree  a 
question  of  knowledge.  But  for  the  universal  delusion  about  education  as  a  panacea 
for  political  evils,  this  would  have  been  made  sulticiently  clear  by  the  evidence  daily 
disclosed  in  your  papers.  Are  not  the  men  who  officer  and  control  your  Federal, 
State,  and  municipal  organizations — who  manipulate  your  caucusses  and  conven- 
tions, and  run  your  partisan  campaigns  —  all  educated  men  ?  And  has  their  educa- 
tion prevented  them  from  engaging  in  or  permitting,  or  condoning,  the  briberies, 
lobbyings,  an  i  other  corrupt  methods  which  vitiate  the  actions  of  your  administra- 
tions }  Perhaps  party  newspapers  exaggerate  these  things ;  but  what  am  I  l^  make 
of  the  testimony  of  your  civil  service  reformers  —  men  of  all  parties  ?  If  I  under- 
itand  the  matter  aright,  they  are  attacking,  as  vicious  and  dangerous,  a  system  which 
has  grown  up  under  the  natural  spontaneous  working  of  your  free  institutions  — are 
exposing  vices  which  education  has  proved  powerless  to  prevent." 

"  Of  course,  ambitious  and  unscrupulous  men  will  secure  the  offices,  and  educa- 
tion v/ill  aid  them  ii;  their  selfish  purposes;  but  would  njt  those  purposes  be  thwarted, 
and  better  government  secured,  by  raising  the  standard  of  knowledge  among  the 
people  at  large  ?" 

"  Very  little.  The  current  theory  is  that  if  the  young  are  taught  what  is  .  ght, 
and  the  reasons  why  it  is  right,  they  will  do  what  is  right  when  they  grow  up. 
But,  considering  what  religious  teachers  have  been  doing  these  2,000  years,  it  seems 
to  me  that  all  history  is  against  the  conclusion,  as  much  as  is  the  conduct  of  these 
well  educatcil  citizens  I  have  referred  to,  and  I  do  not  see  why  you  expect  better 
results  among  the  masses.  Personal  interests  will  sway  the  men  in  the  ranks  as 
they  sway  the  men  above  them,  and  the  education  which  fails  to  make  the  last 
consult  public  good  rather  tha.i  private  good  will  fail  to  niake  the  first  do  it.  The 
benefits  of  political  purity  are  so  general  and  remote,  and  the  profit  to  each  indivi- 
dual so  inconspicuous,  that  the  common  citizen,  educate  him  as  you  like,  will 
habitually  occupy  himjclf  with  his  personal  affairs,  and  h(jld  it  not  worth  his  while 
to  fight  against  each  abuse  as  soon  as  it  appears.  Not  lack  of  information,  but  lack 
of  certain  moral  senliments,  is  the  root  of  the  evil." 

"  You  mean  that  people  have  not  a  sufficient  sense  of  public  duty  .' 
<■  Well,  that  is  one  way  of  putting  it;  but  there  is  a  more  specific  way.  Probably 
it  will  suprise  you  if  I  say  that  the  American  has  not,  I  think,  a  sufficiently  quick 
sense  of  his  own  claims,  and,  at  the  same  time,  as  a  necessary  consequence,  not  a 
sufficiently  quick  sense  of  the  claims  of  others  —  for  the  two  traits  are  organically 
related.     I  observe  that  you  tolerate  various  small  interferences  and  dictations  which 


1  lO 


Tories  o?^  Loyalists 


Englishmen  are  prone  to  resist.  1  am  told  that  the  Knylish  are  remarked  on  for 
their  tendency  to  grumble  in  sutli  ijscs  j   an  i  1  have  no  doubt  that  it  \i  true." 

"  Do  you  think  it  worth  while  Jor  people  to  m  ike  themselves  disagreeable  by  re- 
senting every  trifling  aggression  -  We  Americans  think  it  invidves  too  much  loss 
of  time  and  temper  and  doesn  t  pay." 

"  Exactly.  That  is  what  1  mean  by  character.  It  is  this  easy  going  readiness  to 
permit  small  trespasses  because  it  would  be  troublesome  or  profitless  or  unpopular  to 
oppose,  which  leads  to  the  habit  o.'' acquiescence  in  wrong  and  the  decay  of  free  in- 
stitutions. Free  instituti  ns  can  be  maintained  only  by  citizens,  each  of  whom  is 
instant  to  oppose  every  ili'gitimatc  act,  every  assumption  of  supremacy,  everv  otticial 
excess  of  power,  h(;wever  trivial  it  may  seem.  As  Hamlet  says,  there  is  such  a 
thing  .IS  '  tjieatly  to  lind  <]ujrrel  in.istr..w'  when  tlie  straw  implies  a  principle. 
If,  as  you  say  of  the  American,  he  pauses  to  consider  whether  he  can  afford  the  time 
and  truuble —  ' whether  it  will  pay' — corruption  is  sure  to  creep  in.  All  liicse 
lajises  troin  higher  to  li)wer  forms  begin  in  trifling  ways,  and  it  is  only  by  incessant 
watchfulness  that  they  can  be  prevented.  As  one  of  your  early  statesmen  said  ; 
"  The  price  of  liberty  is  eternal  vigilance."  Dut  it  is  far  less  againu  foreign  ag- 
gressions upon  national  liberty  that  this  vigilance  is  required  than  against  the  insi- 
dious grov.th  of  domestic  interferences  with  personal  lit)eity.  In  some  private 
administrations  which  1  line  been  concerned  with,  I  liave  often  insisted,  much  to 
the  disgust  of  oflicials,  that  instead  of  ussoming,  a:>  people  u.-ujIIv  do,  that  things  are 
going  light  until  it  i-  proved  that  they  are  going  wrong,  tin:  propir  course  is  to 
assume  that  they  .ire  going  wrong  until  it  is  proved  that  they  are  going  right.  You 
will  find,  continually,  th.it  priv.ite  corporations,  such  as  joint  jtock  banking  com- 
panies, come  to  grief  from  not  acting  upon  this  principle.  And  what  holds  of  these 
small  and  sitnple  private  administrations,  holds  still  more  of  the  great  and  complex 
public  administrations.  People  are  taught,  and,  I  suppose,  believe,  that  'the  heart 
of  man  is  deceitful  above  all  things  and  desperately  wicked  ;  '  and  yet,  strangely 
eniiugh,  believing  this,  they  place  iriiplicit  tru^t  in  those  they  appoint  to  this  or  that 
function.  I  do  not  think  so  ill  of  iiiiman  nature  ;  hut,  on  the  other  hand,  I  do  not 
think  so  well  of  human   nature  a»  to  believe  it  will  do  without  being  watched." 

"  You  hinted  that  while  Americans  do  not  assert  their  own  individualties  suffi- 
ciently in  small  matters,  they,  reciprocally,  do  not  sutficiently  respect  the  indivi- 
dualities jf  others." 

"Did  I?  Here,  then,  comes  another  of  the  inconveniences  of  interviewing.  I 
should  have  kept  this  opinion  ui  myself  if  you  had  asked  me  no  questions,  and  now 
J  must  either  say  what  1  do  not  think,  which  1  cannot,  or  I  must  refuse  to  answer, 
which,  perhaps,  will  be  taken  to  mean  more  than  1  intend,  or  1  must  specify  at  the 
risk  of  giving  offense.  As  the  least  evil  1  sujjpose  I  must  do  the  last.  The  trait  I 
refer  to  comes  out  in  various  ways,  small  and  great.  It  is  shown  by  the  disiespectful 
manner  in  which  individuals  aie  dealt  with  in  your  journals — -the  placarding  of  public 
men  in  sensational  headings,  the  dragging  of  private  people  and  their  affairs  into 
print.  There  seems  to  be  a  notion  that  the  public  have  a  right  to  intrude  on  private 
life  as  far  as  they  like  ;  and  this  I  take  to  be  a  kind  of  moral  trespassing.  It  is  true 
that  during  the  last  few  years  we  have  been  discredited  in  London  by  certain  weekly 
papers  which  do  the  like  (except  in  the  typographical  display) ;  but  in  our  daily  press, 
metropolitan  and  provincial,  there  is  nothing  of  the  kind.  Then,  in  a  larger  way. 
ti.e  trait  is  seen  in  this  damaging  of  private  property  by  your  elevated  railways  with- 
out making  compensation  ;  and  it  is  again  seen  in  the  doings  of  railway  governments, 
not  only  when  overriding  the  rights  of  shareholders,  but  in  dominating  over  courts 
of  justice  and  State  governments.     The  fact  is  that  free   institutions  can   be  properly 


-«   V 


in  the  Revolution, 


1 1 1 


worked  nnly  by  men  each  of  whom  Is  jealous  of  his  own  rights,  and  also  sympatheti- 
cally  jealous  of  the  rights  of  others  —  will  neither  himself  aggress  on  his  neiL;lib()rs, 
in  small  thin^^a  ur  great,  nor  tolerat-^  aggression  on  them  by  others.  The  Republi- 
can form  of  (;..vernment  is  the  highest  form  of  Government,  but  because  of  this  it 
requMi-5  the  higher  type  of  human  nature  —  a  type  nowhere  at  present  existing. 
We  have  not  grown  up  to  it,  nor  have  you." 

"  But  we  thought,  Mr.  Sjiencer,  you  were  in  favor  of  free  government  in  the 
sense  of  relaxed  restraints,  and  letting  men  and  things  very  much  alone  —  or  what 
is  called  laiiuz.  f\i\rtf 

"  That  is  a  persistent  misunderstanding  of  my  opponents,  livery  wliere,  along  with 
the  reprobation  of  government  intrusion  into  various  spheres  where  private  activities 
should  be  kft  to  tiiemselves,  1  have  contended  that  in  its  special  sphere,  the  main- 
tenance of  eijuitable  relations  among  citizens,  governmental  action  should  be  ex- 
tended and  elaborated." 

•'  To  return  to  your  various  criticisms,  must  1  then  understand  that  you  think  un 
favorably  of  our  future  .i"" 

"  No  one  can  form  anything  more  than  vague  and  general  conclusions  respecting 
your  future.      The   factors  arc    too  numerous,  too   vast,    too    fir   bey.nd    measure   in 
their  <iuantitii-s  and  intensities.      The  w..rld  has  never  before  seen   social  phenomena 
at  all  compirable   with    those  jiresented    in  the    United  States.      A  society    spreading 
over  enormous  tracts    while   still    preserving    its  political   continuity,  is  a    new  thing. 
This  progressive  incorporation  ot   vast  bodies  of  immigrants  of  various   bloods   has 
never  occurred  on  such  a  scale  before.      Large  empires,  composed  of  dilKerent  people, 
have,  in  previous    cases,  been  formed    by  conquest  and   annexation.      Then  your  im- 
mense plexus  of  railways  and    telegraphs    tends    to  consolidate   this  va.st   aggregate  of 
States  in  a  way  that  no  such  aggregate  has  ever  before  been  consolidated.      And  there 
are  many  minor  co-oj'erating  taujes  unlike  those  hirherto  known.      No  one  can  say 
how  it  is  all  going  to  work  out.      That  there  will  come  hereafter  tr(,ubles  of  various 
kinds,  and    very  grave    ones,  seems    highly    probable;   but  all   nations  have  had,  and 
will  ha\e,  their  t.oubles.      Already  you  have  triumphed  over  one  great  trouble,  and 
may  reasonably   hope  to  triumph   over  others.      It  may,  I   think,  be  reasonably    held 
that  both  because  of  its  size  and  the  heterogeneity  of  its  components,  the  American 
nation  will  be  a  long    time  in  evolving    its  ultinn'te  f>rm,  but  that   its  ultimate  form 
will  be  high.      On.'  great  result  i,-,,  I  think,  tolerably  clear.      Krom   biological   truths 
it  is  to  be  interred  that  the  eventual  mixture  of  the  allied  varieties  of  the  Aryan  race 
forming  the  population,  will  produce  a  more  powerful  type  of  man  than  has  hitherto 
existed,  and  a  type  of  man  more  plastic,  more  adaptable,  more  capable  of  undergoing 
the  modifications  needful  for  complete  social  life.      I  think  that   whatever  difficulties 
they  may  have  to  surmount,  and  whatever  tribulations  they  may  have  to  pass  through, 
the  Americans    may    re.isonably    look  forward   to  a  time  when    they  will   have  pro- 
duced a  civilization   grander    than    any  the  world    has    known."      Could  this   lie  so 
were  educated  citizens  largely  in  the  majority,  equally   titted  to   contend  at    the  polls' 
for  a  number  of  places  necessarily    limited   in    proporti  ni  to  those    who   would  seek 
them?       SVould    the    intense   national    individuality,    when   more    widely   educated 
then  readily  aggregite  —  as  is   correctly  stated -j  by   thousands,  and    delegate    their 
power  to  any  single  man  ?      Would  not  the  competition  of  increased    intelligence  for 
office,  govern    success    morj    by    fitness,  and   cause  a    net    to  be   drawn,  with    closer 
meshes  over  our  political  sear     On  the  solution  of  su:h  questions  the  ptrmanancy  of 
actual  government  of  the  people,  by  the  pecpls  hinges. 


1  12 


Tones  or  Loyalists 


APPENDIX  C. 

INEVITABLE  EFFECTS  OK  A   RAl'lU   I'RCKJRESS  ON  THE  POSITION 
OF  REPRESENTATIVES  OF   EARLIER  SETTLERS  (page  y]). 


These  institutions,  involving.'  ami  receiving  gre;it  attention,  aiiii  usually  conducted 
with  marked  intcjirity  and  system,  naturally  include  in  their  management,  material  as 
broad  as  tlie'r  objcit.  In  many  nt  them,  may  he  |  romineiitly  t'lund  the  descendants 
of  the  (iriginal  Dutch  and  English  settlers,  now  rarely  met  with  in  ttic  record  of  public 
trusts.  Their  intluence  and  control,  has  mainly  become  gradually  limited  to  these, 
and  to  their  social  and  busines:^  connections,  in  private  life.  Any  di.tinct  influence, 
aa  a  recognized  or  cohesive  element,  often  found  in  communities,  has  been  lost  in  the 
mighty  wave  of  emigration  and  its  incre.ise,  which  where  .iggreg.itcd  controls  the  selec- 
tion of  most  of  its  representatives.  Tliis  is  more  evident  at  points  near  to  the  place 
of  its  arrival,  and  it  is  necessarily  free  from  the  iiiHucnce  of  such  earlier  tradition, 
and  sentiment,  as  it  may  in  time  create  in  its  own  successors.  Investigati<in  de- 
velopes  sucli  changes  of  authority  in  all  history,  as  continuous  as  the  rolling  waves 
Sometimes  reaching  the  beach,  at  otiiers  breaking  too  early,  froni  their  acquired 
force.  Under  other  institutions  they  are  niorct  frequently  the  result  of  conquest  than 
of  a  friendly  accej't.mte  with  unlimited  legal  hos[>itality,  as  an  element  of  control. 
When  Charles  II  —  claiming  under  the  exploration  of  the  Cibots,  in  their  second 
voyage  in  1497,  from  their  touching  the  mainland  —  presented  a  Dutch  colony 
wiiich  he  had  never  possessed,  to  his  brother,  the  Duke  of  York,  and  it  was  conquered 
by  his  agent.  Colonel  NicoUs  in  August,  1664,  the  inhabitants  were  not  only  pro- 
tected in  all  their  lights,  by  that  humane  commander,  but  retained  many  local 
positions  of  authority,  after  the  invasion.  Its  capture,  caused  a  war  between  England 
and  the  Dutch  Provinces,  through  which  a  William  the  Stadtholdcr  of  Hidland, 
gradually  developed  .is  future  King  of  England,  and  the  loss  ot  a  colonv  by  the  Dutch 
was  then  compensated  by  the  gaining  of  a  crown  by  a  Dutchman.  That  war  was  at 
its  origin  considered  an  ungrateful  return  for  the  kindness  which  both  of  those 
Princes  had  experienced  when  in  exile,  from  the  authorities  of  the  Netherlands, 
unawed  by  Cromwell's  displeasure.  Colonel  Nicolls,  apparently  infinitely  su])erior  to 
his  master,  was  killed  in  a  sea  tight  in  that  war  in  1672,  on  tilt  Duke  of  York's 
ship,  while  still  remernbeied  with  alVection  here  by  those  whom  he  had  subdued.  His 
munificent  patron  had  rewarded  him  witli  a  gi(t  of  C200  !  on  surrendering  his 
difficult  and  well  administered  Governorship.  Before  that  conquest,  England's  tarly 
colonies  about  Nieu  Amsterdam — some  of  them  under  its  sufferance  —  had  been  a 
source  of  apprehension  to  its  burghers.  Their  original  institutions  seemed  to  have 
been  compassed  by  the  example  of  their  original  home,  and  not  to  have  been  adapted 


«    > 


in  the  Revolution. 


"3 


to  the  early  exteruion  of  that  toleration  in  their  new  one,  to  thoie  who  huil  ried  to 
Amcru-a  to  secure  the  liberty  of  conscience,  the  strujigle  for  which  had  long 
desolited  the  Low  Countries  in  Europe.  All  then  visiting  Nieu  Amsterdam,  the 
Dutch  Records  inform  us,  became  subject  to  this  rule  "beside  the  Reformed 
Religions,  no  conventicles  shall  be  holden  in  houses,  barns,  ships,  woods  or 
fields,  under  penalty  of  50  guilders  for  each  person,  man,  woman  or  child 
attending,  tor  the  first  otfence,  double  for  rhe  second,  quadruple  for  the  third, 
and,  arbitrary  correction  for  every  other,"  This  early  exdusivcness  was  perhaps  an 
omen  ot  their  own  later  exclusion  to  a  great  extent  frori-  the  control  of  the  public 
affairs  of  that  ancient  settlement  once  the  seat  of  an  almost  universal  prosperity  and 
a  type  of  practical  "  tlonie  Rule"  in  the  frugal  and  primitive  administration  of  its 
publu:  aflairs.  Of  the  six  hundred  grants  for  Manors  and  Kst  ites,  once  held  by  them, 
a  small  portion  remains  in  the  possession  ot  their  descendants,  if  unoccupied,  a  heavy 
burthen,  by  the  extravagant  and  often  useless  and  premature  assessment!;  and  onerous 
taxes  constantly  imposed  upon  it,  in  the  employment  of  the  labor  of  those  .IftaineJ 
by  the  snull  proportion  ot  the  outlay  it  receives,  from  an  infinitely  larger  and  more 
lasting  reward,  in  the  wide  and  bountiful  field  for  its  occupation  in  the  less  crowded 
>\  estern  territory. 

Perhaps  in  time,  some  humane  system  may  b>;  discovered,  to  advise  new  comerj 
of  the  inevitable  law  of  «upply  and  demand  which  controls  the  location  of  their  probable 
success,  and  that  it  is  governed  by  the  area  open  for  largely  agricultural  employment, 
rhe  "  Commissioners  of  Emigration  "  have  reported  a  pleasant  fact  for  the  Western 
States;  That  two-thirds  of  tin-  emigration,  including  the  most  provident,  join  them 
directly,  led  by  that  intelligence  which  perhap.  had  caused  such  former  success,  while 
one  third  lingers  on  the  sea-baard,  to  compete  for  employment  in  crowded  and  ex- 
pensive cities,  causing  the  over  competition  often  complained  of,  and  in  business  re 
vulsions  accumulated  distress. 


APPENDIX  D. 


MRS.  GRUNDY'S  OBSERVATIONS   AS  TO   UTOPIA  (page  102). 


In  her  recent  "Observations  in  Utopia,"  Mrs.  Grundy,  as  active  ai  extended 
in  her  travels  and  researches,  points  out  many  defects  in  the  .idministration  of 
thiit  model  Republic  as  instructive  to  our  own.  She  tells  us  how  "  Colonel 
Trusty,  a  watchful  consul  in  Switzerland  reported  —  and  perhaps  violated  the 
rules   of  the    depart-nent,    in  also   disclosing,    what   every    intelligent    citizen    hag 


I  J4- 


Tories  or  Loyalists 


long  known  to  apply  to  many  nationalities  and  cities  of  Europe —  that  some  of  the 
Cantons  of  Switzerland  were  sliippiiij^;  their  convicts  to  Utopia,  and  suggested  that 
an  inspection  for  such  contraband  of  peace,  he  made  at  the  time  of  departure,  to 
whicli  no  respectable  passenger  could  apparently  object.  When  some  compatriots 
evidently  without  appreciation  that  every  country  has  proved  able  to  produce  more 
criminals  than  its  prosperity  requires,  remonstrated,  a  junior  official  replied,  that  the 
consul  had  been  reprimanded,  and  were  he  not  a  meritorious  veteran  would  be  re- 
moved. Would  it  not  be  fair,  in  the  absence  of  any  evidence  of  the  pressure  of  this 
intelligence  upon  the  earliest  Congress  for  action,  to  infer  that  the  country  did  desire 
an  accession  of  such  criminals  to  the  honest  portion  of  its  citizensliij),  and  their  closer 
proximity  to  their  homes  and  families.  Could  this  vital  suggestion  have  been  over- 
looked, especially  by  that  successoi  who  had  first  excelled  even,  the  founder  ot  this 
Republic  in  a  temperate  and  frugal  denial  in  the  viands  of  the  executive  table,  and  had 
displ.iyed  his  unp  iralled  clemency  in  restoring  to  rank  so  many  dispensed  with  for  its 
neglect  by  the  judgment  of  their  fellow  ot^^cers  —  always  a  painful  duty. 

With  a  vast  area  of  territory  yet  to  be  occupied,  the  quality  as  well  as  the  extent 
of  new  accessions  would  seem  to  interest  every  citizen.  The  outrages  daily  recorded, 
rarely  prove  when  investigatccl  to  be  the  acts  of  settled  residents  but  generally  of  those 
of  a  floating  and  fungus  giowth  who  prefer  to  eat  the  grapes  r.ither  than  to  labor  in 
the  vineyard.  Robbery,  generally  attended  by  the  use  of  aims  and  often  by  the 
shedding  ol'  blood,  does  not  seem  to  be  deterred  by  the  fear  of  a  short  and  relatively 
comfortable  confinement,  with  the  hope  of  escape  or  pardon,  by  the  infiuence  of  thu/e 
perhaps  more  ready  to  overlook  tJie  wrongs  of  others,  than  ihey  would  be  their  own. 
The  shooting  of  two  policemen,  at  early  evening,  in  a  frequented  village,  while 
attempting  to  arrest  three  successful  burglars,  loaded  with  plunder  secured  in  a 
neighboring  town,  within  the  writer's  hearing,  recalls  the  value  of  the  Consul's 
suggestion,  and  the  possibility  of  these  very  criminals,  being  of  those  lie  attempted 
to  exclude  5  an  ap|)arently  less  etiective  inspection  at  landing  has  since  been  legalized." 

"Can  the  thought  be  entertained,  that  witli  our  Washington  at  the  iiead  of 
government,  and  substantially  the  »'  Father  of  his  Country  "  he  would  if  advieed 
of  it  liave  neglected  this  warning,  as  to  what  would  appear  to  affect  the  healthy 
development  of  any  country." 

"It  would  be  interesting,  if  it  were  possible,"  she  adds,  "to  hear  the  criticism  of  some 
modern  legislation  here,  and  the  tracing  of  its  results,  by  oneol'oui  own  time  honored 
statesmen — lienjamin  I'ranklin  for  example — accustomed  to  be  driven  from  place  to 
place  of  meeting,  legislating  with  a  halter  in  plain  view  in  case  of  failure,  and  sur- 
rounded by  the  h.udsiiips  of  war,  and  the  need  of  means  for  it,  progress,  yet  witli  the 
wliole  country's  best  interests  always  steadily  in  view.  It  might  provoke  even  him  to 
mirth,  to  foreshadow  that  refinement  of  push  pole  navigati>>n,  coming  as  one  uf  the 
results  of  a  progress  based  on  those  sacrifices,  when  a  "constituencv  "  here  would 
demand,  in  the  face  of  the  President's  veto,  an  appropriation  to  render  a  stream  naviga- 
ble, which,  on  a  careful  inspection  proved  capable  of  fciiu;  carried,  in  the  dry  season 
in  a  box  drain  a  foot  square.  It  would  have  pleased  him  as  a  broad  philanthropist, 
to  know,  that  in  a  recent  bill,  a  provision  requiring  such  inspection  hereafter,  was  a 
desirable  feature,  and  probably  still  more  so  to  learn  tliat  the  value  of  the  method 
resorted  to  in  the  State  of  New  York,  ot  vetoing  sections  in  a  bill,  and  so  preserving 
the  interests  of  proper  subjects  of  legislation  had  suggested  itself  also  to  this  Utopian 
Congress.  " 

"Could  so  wise  a  patriot  as  Franklin,  with  such  intelligence  as  he  had  necessarily 
acquired  as  to  the  mateiial  of  war,   have  been  expected  to  vote  fur  example,  for   the 


in  the  Rt'Oulution, 


115 


Utopian  1  ension  Act,  or  other  even  humane  legislation,  not  limited  by  provisions 
tor  the  strictest  personal  examination  of  the  claimant,  by  a  responsible  officer,  supplied 
with  ample  evidence  of  identity  and  service,  with  power  to  test  the  common 
assertion  that  conjectured  widows,  have  claimed  in  the  names  of  soldiers,  they 
have  never  seen,  long  lying  in  honored  graves,  and  that  constructive  eteranj 
possibly  disabled  by  a  bunion,  acquired  in  too  hastily  retiring  from  active  service,  after 
the  receipt  of  a  bounty,  are  now  in  a  large  number  of  cases  subsisting  on  an  equal 
allowance  with  actual  veterans." 

"  In  our  own  country  Adjutant  General  Stryker,  of  New  Jersev,  a  zealous  officer 
who  presents  his  resignation  to  each  incoming  Governor,  and  is  never  permitted  to  sur! 
render  a  small  salary  for  a  large  service,  has,  with  much  labor  from  scant  State  archives 
by  exhaustive  search,  with  little  assistance,  and  small  expense,  condensed  a  roster  of  the 
Revolutionary   service   of  every  contribution   from    that  fighting   little    State,  from  a 
major  general  to  a  wagoner.    He  has  supplemented   it,  with  a  similar  record  of  service 
in  the  last  war,  and  in  its  inspection  the  long  lists  of  "  deserted,"  probably  mainly  of 
those  who  never  intended  to  serve— mingled  with  longer   ones  of  gallant  veterans 
many  of  whom  fell  in  battle  —  is  a  source  of  surprise  to  the  reader.     I  have  suggested 
the   preparation  and  use  of  such  works  here.      Probably  these  desertions  are   not   in 
excess  of  those   of   other   states,  in   proportion   to  their   population,  but  they  would 
be  a  large    numeral   addition   to  the  Subsistence  Roll  of  an  army.      Such  records  for 
all   the  States  would   seem    to  be  invaluable   to  a  conscientious    Pension  Agent,    or  « 
vigilant   investigator  of  fraudulent   bounties   or   claims.      They  would    be    read  with 
attention  in  Utopia." 

"  The  action  of  the  Viking  of  Bashwash,  when  in  charge  of  the  Naval  Affairi 
of  Utopia,  in  restoring  to  the  school  under  control  of  his  Department,  a  number 
of  cadets  who  had  resigned  to  avoid  an  investigation,  under  charges  unfitting 
them  If  proved,  for  service  as  officers,  was  greatly  disapproved  by  those  who 
wished  to  continue  to  be  proud  of  their  Navy,  and  that  of  the  honored  Com- 
mander who  in  strongly  protesting,  lost  the  favor  of  his  chief  and  even  his  official 
courtesies,  as  highly  praised."  She  further  says,  "  the  latest  amendment  to  the 
Constitution  of  Utopia,  which  was  not  passed  without  opposition,  seems  worthy  of 
attention.  It  provides,  that  every  citizen  in  demanding  or  collecting  interest,  rent 
or  any  other  source  of  revenue,  shall  be  hereafter  required  to  exhibit  to  the  person 
of  whom  payment  is  asked,  at  the  time  of  such  demand,  a  certificate  to  the  f.ict  that 
the  creditor  had  voted  at  the  last  election,  to  be  duly  certified  by  the  clerk  of  the 
Poll,  or  official  evidence  of  a  reasonable  excuse,  and  all  debtors,  are  forbidden  to 
pay  without  such  exhibition.  It  has  already  greatly  increased  the  vote  of  that 
reserved  class,  who  have  hmetoforc  neglected  the  control  of  their  most  valuable  in- 
vestment, by  which  all  others  are  protected  and  guaranteed,  while  attentive  to  the 
election  of  corporate  Directors." 

'•  Civil  Service  Reform,"  is  growing  in  favor  with  many,  from  the  liberal  con- 
struction of  the  law.  Examinations  for  appointments  are  influenced  as  to  their  extent 
by  the  circumstances  Where  urong  testimonials  are  presented,  they  are  held  to 
make  a  searching  series  ot  questions  as  to  capacity,  unnecessary,  but  in  their  absence 
greater  care  is  considered  necessary. 

The   intention    of  the  law  is  construed  to  be    to  enable    the  government    to  avail 
Itself  of  the   services    of  those    whose   armor   has  been   hacked    and    broken   in  the 
defence  of  the  interests  of  the  party  entrusted  with  the  management  of  public  affairs 
and  to  dispense  with  the  seririces  of  good  men  too   engrossed  in  their    duties   to  gire 
sufficient  attention  to  the  interests  of  the  power  which  protects  them. 

15 


ii6 


'Tories  or  Loyalists 


Their  influence,  as  examples  of  good  citizenship  is  considered  more  useful,  when 
scattered  unhampered  by  office  amongst  the  body  of  the  people." 

"It  is  rumored  that  an  effort  will  be  made  at  the  next  session  of  the  Utopian 
Congress,  to  rescind  its  novel  rule  requiring  the  insertion  of  pellets  of  cotton  in  the 
ears  of  a  member  addressing  the  chair,  after  ten  minutes  speaking,  with  a  view  to 
confining  the  length  of  his  remarks  to  the  suggestions  of  the  mind,  and  not  to  allow 
them  to  be  led  on  by  the  pleasant  music  of  the  voice,  :iftcr  the  material  suggestioni 
have  been  made.  Its  intention  was  to  economize  valuable  time,  where  all  speechei 
may  be  elal orated  and  printel." 

"The  descendants  of  :he  Liberators  of  Utopia  are  rarely  found  in  official  position. 
They  comfort  themselves  by  feeling  that  like  Alcibiades  they  may  be  'esteemed  too 
just.' 

Great  attention  is  given  by  the  farmers  here  to  the  breeding  of  blooded  stock,  and 
fabulous  prices  arc  paid  for  animals  of  ap[^roved  pedigree." 

"  Tliis  letter  from  a  candidate  for  the  Utopian  Congress  to  the  committee  who 
had  the  power  to  nominate  him  ;  and  to  their  credit  did  so,  lias  been  much  dis- 
cussed, its  candor  questioned,  and  its  contents  pronounced  as  "toffy,"  but  it  has  been 
doubted,  largely  by  those  who  had  spoiled  their  digestion  by  Its  excessive  use.  Others 
consider  that  it  is  a  good  old  fishioned  doctrine." 

"Still,  that  there  may  be  no  possibility  of  mistake,  and  in  simple  fairness  to  the 
gentlemen  who  have  the  matter  in  control,  I  take  this  public  way  of  saying  with  as 
much  emphasis  as  may  be,  that  from  cari'ful  (ibservation  and  a  somewhat  intimate 
acquaintance  with  the  inner  workings  of  both  the  great  political  parties,  I  am  con- 
vinced that  the  one  greatest  curse  of  our  political  system  is  the  corrupt  use  of  money 
and  patronage  in  elections.  Were  I  nominated,  I  should  not  directly  or  indirectly, 
pay  or  cause  to  be  paid  one  dollar  to  secure  an  election.  Further  than  this,  I  may 
say  that,  lielieving  the  work  of  office  seeking,  place  brokerage,  and  position  peddling 
to  be  no  part  of  the  duty  of  a  member  of  Cungress,  I  should,  if  elected,  refuse  posi- 
tively to  take  any  part  in  the  general  scramble  for  places  in  the  departments,  an 
occupation  which  can  only  be  engaged  in  by  neglecting  legitimate  and  necessary 
work  in  the  house  at  the  sacrifice  of  self-respect,  and  to  the  serious  detrinu-nt  and 
disgrace  of  the  public  service.  In  short,  I  could  only  accept  the  nomination  with 
the  distinct  understanding  that,  in  addition  to  earnestly  and  sincerely  subscribing  to 
all  the  time-honorcii  principles  of  my  party,  I  should  enter  the  canvass  upon  the 
clean  new  platform  of  honest,  progressive,  and  independent  Republicans.  If  there 
be  any  gentleman  who  would  vote  for  my  nomination  on  other  terms,  I  beg  him  to 
refrain  from  <loing  so.  His  action  could  only  result  in  disappointment."  He  was 
defeated. 

It  may  occur  to  some  weary  reader,  why  some  of  these  notes,  apparently  discon- 
necte<l  from  the  subject,  are  worked  iti  to  his  annoyance.  Simply  because  it  appeari 
that  the  use  made  by  any  nationality,  of  discussion  of  the  action  of  either  or  all  of 
its  former  rulers,  is  the  strongest  censure  that  can  be  inflicted  by  their  posterity 
on  those  who  opposed  its  creation,  and  questioned  its  future  integrity,  where  so  many 
were  to  be  trusted  with  its  control. 

Mr.  Henry  George,  who  has  lately  bearded  the  British  Lion  in  hit  den,  and  con- 
tended with  the  Dragon  which  prevented  the  universal  prosperity  and  happiness  of  the 
human  race,  as  fearlessly  as  did  hi^  namesake,  the  patron  saint  of  the  now  oppressors, 
has  on  his  return  hastily  plucked  a  handful  of  feathers,  principally  exotic,  from  the 
terminal  portion  of  the  Utopian  "Bird  of  Freedom."  He  alludes  truthfully,  to  the  ex- 
travagance and   uncleanliness  of  "  Outre  Mer,"  its  great  maritime  and  again  largely 


tn  the  Revolution, 


' 


n 


colonial  city,  and  yet  displays  an  apparent  want  of  appreciation  of  the  causes  requisite 
to  the  value  of  his  undertaking.      He  says  no  one  : 

"Can    go    to    Europe    and    study    the    system    of     government    there    without 
reeling  a   very  great  contempt  for  it  —  without   fee.ing  that  he   would   like   to  go 


that  he    look  to  his   own    country  -  to  cities   like    this    great    metropolis   of  yours 
ruled  and  robbed  by  a  class  of  miserable  politicians." 


After  stating  that  if  Utopia  had  been  "  true  of  Democratic  principles  "  there  would 
not  now    in  his  opinion  "  be  a  crowned  head  in    Europe,"    he  honestly  points  out  as 
causes  ot  the  dehiy.  '^ 

"  But  what  shall  we  say  when  over  here,  where  every  man  is  equal  before  the 
law,  where  every  citizen  has  a  right  to  vote,  where  all  power  is  in  the  hands  of  the 
^•A.^'^xrl  "^""""^  ^^^  workers  are  but  little,  if  any,  better  off  than  on  the  other 
side.  What  IS  the  use  of  democratic  institutions  to  men  who  cannot  get  a  living 
without  cringing  and  buying  and  selling  their  manhood.  (Applause.)  Can  we 
prate  and  boast  of  our  institutions  when  we  read  of  people  dying  of  starvation  >  when 
we  have  alms-houses  in  every  city  .'"' 

He  proposes  to  exempt  improved  property  from  future  taxation,  but  to  remove  the 
held  for  the  harvest  of  the  enormous  amount  of  its  expenses  to  the  unoccupied 
portions  of  the  island,  and  annexed  adjacent  territory.  Speaking  of  a  friend  who 
desired  to  invest  in  improvements,  he  says  : 

"If  he  went  to  the  upper  nortion  of  this  island,  as  he  probably  would  go  he 
would  find  there  plenty  of  vacant  land  that  is  now  of  no  use  to  anybody  save  as'the 
receptacle  of  rubbish  and  a  browsing  place  for  goats  of  that  species  popularly  sup- 
posed to  live  on  old  boots  and  glass  bottles.  Very  naturally  he  would  say  no  one 
IS  using  this  land.  It  is,  in  fact,  in  its  present  condition  an  eyesore  and  a'nuisance. 
Let  me  come  on  it  and  I  will  erect  a  rtne  house,  which  will  be  an  ornament  to  the 
neighborhood  and  an  inducement  to  other  people  to  erect  good  houses  in  the  vicinity 
Or  I  will  build  a  factory  in  which  I  will  employ  a  great  number  of  hand.,  and  turn 
out  every  year  a  large  amount  of  goods  that  everybody  desires.  Should  we  not  say 
to  him  :—' Go  ahead  and  welcome!  Fine  houses  are  better  than  rubbish-filled 
lots  and  vye  would  rather  have  factories  than  goat  pastures  .?'  But  we  say  nothine  of 
tfie  kind.  " 

"  On  the  contrary,  Mr.  Saunders  would  be  confronted  by  some  one  by  legal  right 
of  a  title  derived  from  some  of  the  old  Dutchmen    who  first  settled   this  island  and 
who  have   been  dead   and  gone  long  years  ago,  who  would   say  to  him,  •  Hcforc  you 
can  build  your  houses  or  erect  your  factory  you  must  pay  me  such  and   such  a  sum  ' 
finding  that   he  could   not  in    any  other    way   get  a  place    upon  which  to  make  the 
improvement  he  contempLued,  Mr.  Saunders  would  probably  consent   to  pay  a  price 
which,  in  Its   nature,  would    be  nothing   more  nor   less    than  a  species  of  blackmail 
levied  upon  a   man  who  wished  to  improve   natural   opportunities  for  the   benefit  of 
some  dog-in-themanger  who  couKi  not   and  would  not  use   them  for  himself      Hii 
capital  being  thus  further  diminished  he  would   proceed  to  build  his   house  and  erect 
his  factory.      Wha^  then  >     As  soon   as  he  got  them  up,    along  would  come   a  tax 
gatherer  and  wouU.  say  to  him,  you  have   built  a  house,  you   have  erected  a  factory 
and  for  doing   these  things    the   laws  of  this    country   fine  you  to   such  and    such  an 
amount,  and  unless  you  pay  the  fine  and  keep  on  paying  the  fine,  we  will  take  from 
you  the  property  which  is  the  result  of  your  exertions."     And  not  satisfied  with  that 


ii8 


Tories  or  Loyalists 


if  Mr.  Saunders'  skill  and  prudence  and  energy  enabled  him,  after  all  this,  to  make 
money,  and  his  [irovidence  (.'nablcd  him  to  lay  it  up,  the  taxgatheier  would  hunt  him 
up  in  all  sorts  of  ways  and  demand  new  fines  and  fresh  penalties. 

"  Now,  what  I  contend  is,  that  it  is  stupid  in  us  to  thus  hamper  and  vex  and  fine 
the  men  who  enrich  our  city  and  our  country,  and  that  when  we  want  money  for 
common  uses  it  would  be  much  wiser  for  us  to  go  for  them  to  a  man  who  is  merely 
holding  land  in  order  to  compel  thoi-e  who  wculd  impr(jve  it  to  pay  him  a  high  price. 

*'  Whether  I  am  a  foi.l  or  a  philosopher,  a  philanthropist  or  an  incendiary,  there 
is  one  thing  I  am  firn  ly  convinced  of— that  houses  and  factories  and  steamships 
and  railroads,  and  dryji-dsand  groceries  are  good  things  for  any  community  to  have, 
and  that  that  is  the  richest  community  that  has  most  of  them. 

"Now,  the  more  you  tax  those  things  the  less  of  them  you  will  have,  but  tax 
the  value  of  land  as  much  as  you  please  and  you  will  have  none  the  less  land,  and  it 
will  be  none  tiie  le^s  useful.  Tax  land  up  to  its  full  valtie  and  wliat  would  happen  ? 
Wiiy  simply  that  those  who  are  holding  land  of  which  they  make  no  use,  would  be 
compelled  togiveit  up,  and  that  those  who  wanted  to  make  use  of  it  could  go  and  take 
it  and  improve  it  and  use  it  without  paying  to  the  non-user  anything  for  the  privilege. 

"  Consider,  gentlemen,  how  this  city  would  grow,  how  enormously  wealth  would 
increase,  if  all  taxes  were  abolished  which  now  bear  on  the  production  and  accumu- 
lation and  exchange  of  wealth.  Consider  how  quickly  the  vacant  spaces  on  this 
island  would  fill  up  could  land  not  improved,  be  liad  by  them  who  wanted  to  improve 
it,  without  the  payment  of  the  prices  now  demanded.  Then  extend  your  view  to 
the  whole  country  and  see  how  the  same  policy  would  everywhere  enormously  in- 
crease wealth." 

In  this  frank  exposition  of  his  theories  of  home  reform,  their  suggestor  overlooks 
some  points  important  to  their  value.  His  "old  Dutchman  "  tor  example,  is  typical 
for  the  descendant  of  the  first  white  settler  from  Holland  on  the  island  of  "  Outre 
Mer  "  and  as  such  has  at  least  the  same  rights  as  though  he  had  been  descended 
from  the  early  natives  of  any  Isle  iiowever  fair  and  green,  has  long  since  ceased  to 
own  any  considerable  part  of  it.  The  territory  is  already  largely  covered  besides  his 
"  old  boots  and  glass  bottles  "  with  the  shanties  of  what  is  known  as  a  squatter 
colonization  who  usually  pay  no  rent  and  often  reluctantly  yield  to  dispossession 
before  the  progress  of  a  more  permanent  improvement. 

On  the  other  hand  the  poor  old  Dutchman  has  submitted  for  years  to  the  exactions 
of  repeated  assessments,  valuable  to  the  contractor  and  the  politician,  as  a  means  of 
subsistence  to  a  constituency,  in  which  the  owner  as  a  unit  is  disregarded  where  the 
greatest  good  is  sought  for  the  greatest  number.  .Moreover  he  overlooks  what  the 
records  will  show,  that  a  large  portion  of  this  property  has  already  been  sold  for  taxes, 
and  assessments  too  onerous  to  be  paid  on  wholly  unproductive  property,  and  that  his 
additional  taxes  would  be  only  a  further  lien  on  what  is  already  forfeited  or  mainly 
for  sale  at  far  less  than  its  accumulated  cost.  That  to  raise  the  enormous  expenses  of 
the  city,  unprecedented  in  the  world  for  its  area,  would  be  like  the  nourishment 
of  the  Pelican  which  is  said  to  feed  on  its  own  blood,  or  gleaning  a  field  after  it  had 
been  both  harvested  and  pastured  upon.  The  tax  bills  alone  would  soon  cover 
its  area  as  with  a  blanket. 

His  friend  should  realize  before  any  location,  what  those  longer  familiar  with  the 
subject  have  learned  ;  to  count  in  the  cost  the  yearly  reminder  of  this  past  civic  ex- 
travagance, and  its  present  increase  in  his  estimate  of  its  use,  or  else  to  put  on  green 
goggles,  and  affect  to  be  nourished  by  that  dish  of  shavings,  however  annually  cooked 
and  set  befo'-e  him.  In  many  cases  he  can  "  for  further  information  apply  on  the 
premises  "  for  corroboration  of  these  suggestions. 


.' 


tn  the  Revolution, 


1J9 


He  also  neglects  to  tell,  where,  when  all  of  this  territory  is  improvtii  by  the  result 
of  industry,  the  next  field  for  the  imposition  of  new  taxes  which  with  death  alone 
are  certain,  is  to  be  found.  Would  not  knowledge  of  such  material  points  in  the 
political  economy  of  his  own  country,  give  value  to  suggestions  as  to  the  internal 
difficulties  of  any  other.  In  seeking  for  any  undiscovered  field  for  additional  taxa- 
tion, on  the  island  of  "Outre  Mcr,"  he  might  aid  the  assessors,  and  also  answer  Mr. 
Pitt's  pungent  query,  "Gentle  Shepherd,  tell  me  where  }  " 


APPENDIX  E. 

REPUTATION    AT    THE    CANNON'S    MOUTH    AND  THE  CHANCES 
IN   ITS  TRANSMISSION   (note,  page  24). 


Dr.  T'.mothy'  Dwight,  as  the  nephew  of  General  Lyman,  who  with  his  father 
was  an  early  settler  of  the  Territory  of  the  Natchez,  at  least  showed  a  natural  senti- 
ment in  vindicating  the  claim  of  his  uncle  as  a  worthy  subordinate,  to  the  merit  he 
considfred  his  due.  Errors  have  always  been  claimed  to  oxist  in  the  distribution  of 
credit  for  service.  Time  long  since  accorded  the  glory  of  two  important  victories  to  Sir 
William  Johnson — one  at  Lake  George  in  the  summer  of  1755.  ^^hen  Baron 
Dieskau,  a  veteran  of  the  Continental  Wars  was  defeated,  .mother  the  capture  of 
Niagara,  four  yeats  later.  The  whole  life  ^-i  that  selfeducated  soldier,  had  in  all 
its  details  been  sustained  by  his  gallantry,  and  he  early  carried  his  son  to  the  field  to 
teach  him  the  art  of  war.  Possibly  he  ma)  have  been  remiss  as  Dr.  Dwight  has 
claimed,  in  distributing  some  of  his  laurels  to  his  officers,  or  the  New  England  troops 
disposed,  in  the  existing  jealousy,  to  claim  too  many  of  them.  The  moment  of 
victory  has  proved  best  adapted  to  settle  relative  merit,  while  all  present  are  familiar 
with  facts  from  observation.  That  passed,  it  has  often  proved  as  difficult  where  the 
credit  of  victory  naturally  falls  to  the  Commander — as  to  ascertain  now  who  aided 
to  win  the  laurels  of  Caesar,  Hannibal  or  Philip,  if  without  record  in  history. 

In  cases  of  disaster,  the  blame  at  once  falli  upon  the  leader,  regardless  of  who  stumbled, 
and  no  one  competes  for  a  share.  His  son  and  successor  probably  fought  as  bravely 
in  his  detested  invasions,  and  yet  wears  in  some  history  the  willow  decreed  to  failure. 
Many  of  the  friends  of  General  de  Peyster,  will  be  gratified  in  his  probable  success  in 
vindicating  the  honor  and  courage  of  his  relative. 

Mrs.  Grundy  in  her  •'  Observations  in  Utopia  "  refers  to  a  notable  case  of 
another  military  muddle  in  its  history,  she  says  ; 

"  There  was  some  difference  of  opinion  here,  some  time  since,  as  to  the  advantage 
of  the  correction  of  accepted  historical  error,  too  late  for  practical  use.  In  its  course, 
a  case  was  cited  as  occurring  in  the  former  wars  of  Utopia.  It  was  occasioned  by  the 
carelessness  or  paramount  personal  engagements  of  a  civilian  acting  as  Secretary  to 
a  former  honored  Commander-in-Chief,  Marshal  Dauntless,  an  approved  soldier." 


120 


Tories  or  Loyalists 


"  That  gallant  officer,  had  intende  i  to  lead  the  attack  in  person,  at  the  great 
battle  of"  Ouvrir  la  I'orte,"  and  to  hiad  his  forces,  as  he  had  often  done.  Tie  had 
prepared  the  plan  of  the  engagement  I  cfore  it  occurred,  sliowing  his  special  command 
in  the  advance.  The  burning  of  a  bridge  in  front  of  his  position,  preventing  liis 
reaching  tliat  post  in  season,  caused  him  to  alter  his  plan  on  the  day  before  the 
attack  and  to  order  General  Fearless,  hii  second  in  command  to  advance  with  his 
light  division,  giving  him  an  opportunity  substantially  to  Hank  the  fortifications, 
necessarily  passing  under  a  heavy  fire  and  to  attack  the  enemy  supporting  them  in 
great  force,  if  he  found  it  practicable,  before  he  —  with  every  possible  exertion  — 
could  come  to  his  relief  with  the  needed  support  of  heavier  artillery,  and  equalize 
the  struggle,  and  L^liell  out  the  batteries.  The  division  commander  ^ith  a  very 
inadequate  force,  and  mainly  with  a  small  section  of  it,  only  succeeded  by  a  desperate 
coup  ilc  main  in  passing  the  works,  meeting  at  and  above  them,  the  entire  force  of 
the  enemy  and  mainly  fighting  the  baltle  with  the  single  division  in  the  advance, 
before  his  commander  could  possibly  reach  the  enemy  and  gallantly  complete  the 
victory,  Gen.  Fearless  reaching  the  important  post  above  them  in  advance  of  all 
support,  an^  when  the  Marshal  came  up,  landed,  and  received  its  surrender." 

"  After  that  great  triumph,  the  commander  of  the  et)tire  force,  to  whom  the  honor 
of  both  its  conception  and  achievement  would  naturally  be  given,  sent  his  division 
commander — whom  he  loved,  with  the  intelligence,  to  the  seat  of  government,  in- 
tending that  he  should  receive  his  reward  in  thanks  and  promotion  for  the  glory  he 
had  so  materially  aided  in  securing  eventually  for  himself,  as  Napoleon  alone  concen- 
trated in  due  season  the  glory  of  the  Egyptian  campaign,  and  Nelson  that  of  the  Nile." 

"  But  alas  !  the  Citizen  Secretary  had  affixed  to  the  report,  which  was  not  parti- 
cular in  detail,  the  old  diagram  of  the  proposed  battle  instead  of  that  of  the  one  that 
Wiis  actually  fought  which  had  been  duly  prepared,  so  falsifying  his  explanations.  The 
division  commander's  statements  were  discredited  by  the  papers  he  carried  ;  history 
of  this  notable  feat  of  arms  was  written  and  illustrations  executed  at  once,  based  on 
the  erroneous  account,  in  most  of  which  the  real  leader  was  not  referred  to  or  included, 
as  all  present  knew  to  be  due.  All  this  mortification  fell  upon  the  gallant  division 
commander,  in  place  of  the  merit  his  remarkable  achievement  claimed,  and  although 
the  Commander-in  Chief  made  ample  correction  of  the  records,  and  of  the  Idunder 
of  his  subordinate,  some  years  alter  when  convinced  of  his  error,  the  wound  the 
mistake  had  given  to  a  sensitive  and  modest  nature,  went  with  him  to  the  grave.  The 
Secretary  yet  survives,  but  some  ot  the  people  here  think  he  was  a  little  more  careless 
as  to  the  record  of  another  than  he  could  have  been  of  his  own,  and  wonder  that 
when  he  read  the  accounts,  every  where  printed,  of  his  conjectured  position  in  the 
line  on  that  old  battle  day,  he  too  did  not  do  something  for  history,  by  correcting  his 
contribution  to  its  man'^  errors."  To  avoid  such  delay,  and  to  correct  an  error  yet 
palpable  ;  it  is  proper  to  say  after  closer  research,  that  Sir  William  olFered  the  suc- 
cession to  the  Superintendency  of  Indian  Affairs,  to  his  son  in  his  lifetime,  and  that 
he  asked   to  be  relieved  from  its  duties  (  page  51). 

It  is  claimed  that  Lieut.  Governor  Colden — whose  valuable  "History  of  the  Five 
Nations"  had  been  published  in  1717,  and  shows  his  knowledge  of  tliis  trust — urged 
its  acceptance  on  Sir  John.  His  power  to  confer  it,  was  through  the  absence  of 
Governor  Tryon,  as  Col.  Guy's  letter  predicted.  Another  clerical  error,  occurs  on 
page  71,  stating  that  Col.  Bouquet  was  born  at  and  not  in  Switzerland,  and  one 
on  page  74,  places  Colonel  Lee,  where  Colonel  William  Washington  actually  was, 
waiting  for  equipments  soon  eti'ectually  used  at  Cowpens. 

As  to  the  Indian  schools  (page  66),  new  light  has  shown  that  this  wise  humanity 
is  due  more  to  personal  benevolence  than  to  the  liberality  of  the  Government, 


.  ,'/ 


V^ 


in  the  Revolution, 


12  J 


It  has  been  sometimes  asked,  why  such  historical  papers  as  the  handful  used  in 
the  preceding  pamphlet,  arc  not  in  the  public  anbi'ves.  The  answer  might  be 
made  that  f^w  things  are  iii  their  proper  place  and  yet  many  are  useful 

The  tact  .ame  to  the  writer  from  Mr.  Francis  A.  Stout,  i  Commi.sioner  of  the 
State  Survey,  that  by  the  defect  of  curlier  Cartography,  many  places  are  found  located 
e-ut^  ,«//..  away  from  their  actual  geometrical  position.  And  yet  generations  have 
lived  and  died  in  them,  and  there  is  probably  no  diminution  of  the  area  or  acreage, 
which  some  would  realize  more  than  this  defective  location. 

When  visiting  our  State  Capital  some  years  since-in  connection  with  his  project 
of  International  hxchange-M.  Alexandre  ^  ..ttemare,  found  men  in  one  of  its 
chambers  packing  in  boxes  the  recently  printed  •'  Documentary  History,"  knee  deep 
in  old  manuscripts,  which  ivere  history,  but  used  as  fillers. 

On  his  thoughtful  suggestion  to  the  Legislatur.,  that  these  were  not  being 
«rm-,/v/«c<;r.,/,  action  was  taken  for  the  conservation  of  what  remained  ;  and  the 
learned  Dr.  LB.  O  Callaghan— to  whom  we  owe  so  much  of  our  State  History  and 
from  whom  the  wntor  had  this  fict,  was  created  Curator,  and  laboriously  catalogued 
those  relics.  Lyen  afterwards-certainly  without  his  knowledge,  some  were  abstracted 
and  Mr.  John  Bigelow,  when  Secretary  of  State,  properly  sought  to  reclaim  them  ; 
even  by  circulars  addressed  to   private  collectors. 

Cuiioui  papers  often  pass  through  many  hands,  as  a  merchantable  article,  and 
their  migrations  are  also  as  indefinite  as  those  of  a  circulating  bill.  Three  of  the 
grand  col  ections  ot  Historical  manuscripts,  once  belonging  to  Rev.  Dr.  Spraniie,  of 
Albany,  Mr.  Robert  Gilmor,  of  Baltimore,  and  Mr.  Tetft  of  Savanah,  have  been 
broke,,  up  the  former  after  it  had  been  offered  to  the  Government  and  State 
unsucessfully,  tell  into  the  already  large  collection,  of  a  private  gentleman  in  Phila- 
delphia,  where  it  is  likely  to  be  preserved. 

During  the  Civil  War;  as  one  of  its  evils,  the  high  price  of  old  paper,  while  the 
cruisers  ruled  commerce  and  shut  out  other  material,  brought  out  from  many  .arrets 
and  simi  ar  receptacles,  a  store  of  historical  material  of  forgotten,  or  unknown  value, 
to  teed  the  paper  mills,  and  weave  material  Ibr^the  transmission  of  later  facts  It  it 
be  leved  that  more  unprinted  history,  w.is  then  ground  up,  tlian  even  now  exist  in 
putilic  or  private  collections. 

It  is  stated  that  at  that  time,  many  old  papers  were  discovered  and  exhumed  from 
the  outbuildings  of  John.^.n  Hall,  possibly  some  containing  the  key  to  this  research 
Such  papers  ar.  rarely  sought  for  public  collections  when  exposed  at  public  or  private 
sale,  hut  tall,  on  conditions  showing  at  least  co.isideration  for  the  value  of  the  lives  of 
others^mto  the  private  collections  of  a  few  antiquarians,  sometimes  to  Le  reduced 
to  print  for  private  circulation. 

Many  find  their  way  from  K orope,  especially  from  England.  Lately  the  military 
papers  of  Lord  Rawdon  and  Sir  Henry  Clinton,  including  beautifully  executed 
military  maps  made  by  the  Royal  Engineers  in  America  have  been  broken  up  and 
distributed  here.  '^ 

_  As  an  illustration  of  devotion  to  such  collection  and  its  accomplishments,  it  ii  only 
just  to  say,  that  there  does  not  probably  exist  a  more  comprehensive  memorial  of  the 
men  of  mark  who  have  been  connected  with  American  History  since  the  settlements 
than  that  formed  by  Dr.  Emmett— elsewhere  referred  to.  That  hidden  in  his  library 
and  known  only  to  lew,  m  notably  rine  condition,  by  restoration  and  exhaustive 
Illustration  with  portraits  and  views,  is  probably  the  most  valuable  and  intelligible 
monument  to  them,  erected  by  a  single  hand,  from  many  sources,  in  hours  devoted  to 
recreation  in  an  active  and  useful  life.  There  are  a  number  of  others,  very  complete 
and  interesting,  even  superior  to  it  in  some  details,  but  as  an  entirety  it  may  claim  to 
be  unequalled  in  condition,  and  it  is  the  result  of  years  of  research 


122 


Tories  or  Loyalists 


An  incident  which  has  occurred  before  this  Appendix  is  printed,  is  referred  to  as 
pr.ictically  sustaining  some  of  the  views  which  have  been  suggested.  How  supply 
and  lieniand  govern  value,  )iow  it  is  increased  when  .1  thing  is  put  in  the  right 
place,  and  how  recognition  of  the  past  shows  solid  progress  in  the  present. 

The  venerable  Robert  C.  Winthrop,  has  done  a  good  work,  in  restoring  the 
portrait  of  one  by  whom  his  life  has  been  doubtless  inHuunced  ;  additionally  so  as  the 
friendly  act  of  a  representative  of  early  patriotism  in  Massachusetts,  in  sympathizing 
with  those  of  South  Carolina.  The  old  City  Hall,  of  Charleston,  South  Carolina, 
had  been  completely  restored  and  beautified,  the  interior  entirely  rebuilt  with  twelve 
spacious  rooms,  all  with  a  remarkable  economy  (iJzOjOOo),  creditable  to  the  city 
officials,  and  suggestive  to  those  of  other  cities. 

In  its  park,  a  life  sized  statue  of  Pitt,  Earl  of  Chatham,  erected  by  the  citizens 
in  their  gratitude  for  the  repeal  of  the  Stamp  Act,  and  thrown  down  after  Clinton's 
capture,  has  been  remounted  on  a  new  pedestal,  with  the  old  inscription  tablet 
sought  out  and  replaced.  Even  the  signs  of  mutilation  are  suggestive  to  patriotism 
and  of  a  possible  similar  restoration  of  its  headless  refilijue,  in  the  keeping  of  the 
New  York  Historical  Society. 

The  Common  Council  and  citizens  of  Charleston,  showing  their  appreciation  of  the 
renewal  of  their  civic  home,  assembled  on  the  15th  of  November,  for  its  rededication. 
The  Mayor — Mr.  Courtenay,  whose  heart  had  been  in  this  work,  made  a  sug- 
gestive opening  address,  effectively  recalling  the  early  history  of  the  city,  its  position, 
and  his  hopes  in  its  course,  referring  to  the  services  of  his  first  predecessor  —  after  the 
Intendancy  —  the  distinguished  Robert  Y.  Hayne  j  who  had  accepted  the  position, 
after  serving  as  Governor  and  United  States  Senator.  He  showed  how  Hayne  had 
labored  for  facilities  of  communication  with  the  interior,  and  for  the  progress  of  the 
city,  incidentally  comparing  these  details  of  his  life  to  those  of  Ue  Witt  Clinton.  He 
then  recalled  a  resolution  passed  by  the  citizens  on  his  decease  in  1839,  to  place  his 
marble  bust  in  the  City  Hall,  and  suggested  its  re-enactment,  which,  after  other 
spirited  addresses,  was  unanimously  adopted.      As  the  News  and  Courier  reports  : 

"  Mayor  Courtenay  then  said  :  During  the  visit  of  Governor  Winthrop  to  this 
city  in  1880,  he  visited  the  Council  Chamber  to  see  the  portraits  and  other  works  of 
art  owned  by  the  city.  He  called  the  attention  to  the  neglected  condition  of 
"  Trumbull's  Washington,"  a  full  length  portrait  of  great  value  and  historic  interest, 
and  urged  that  it  be  placed  in  proper  hands  for  restoration,  proffering  his  services 
in  advising  and  superintending  the  work.  By  unanimous  vote  of  the  City  Council 
the  picture  was  forwarded  to  Governor  Winthrop,  and  has  been  wonderfully 
renewed,  and  now  presents  as  fine  an  appearance  as  when  originally  painted.  It 
was  completed  last  spring,  and  was  received  in  the  Boston  Museum  of  Art  and 
kept  on  exhibition  during  the  summer  and  fall  months,  and  is  again  restored  to  its 
familiar  place  on  the  walls  of  our  chamber.  Alderman  Rogers  thereupon  offered 
the  following  resolution  :  Whereas,  Our  distinguished  fellow  countryman,  Governor 
Winthrop,  of  Massachusetts,  while  on  a  visit  to  this  city  in  1880,  and  enjoying  its 
relics  of  our  olden  time,  became  greatly  interested  in  the  jireservation  of  our 
Trumbull's  Washington,  and  wisely  suggested  its  repair  and  restoration,  and  to 
further  this  end  offered  his  most  valuable  services  of  supervision  and  care  of  this 
work;  and  whereas,  through  his  kind  offices  the  work  of  restoration  has  now 
been  finally  completed,  and  this  valued  picture  of  our  city,  now  in  its  old  power 
and  life,  again  adorns  our  walls.  Be  it,  therefore.  Resolved,  That  the  City  Council 
of  Charleston  gratefully  acknowledge  and  appreciate  the  valuable  aid  and  kind 
personal  service  of  Governor  Winthrop  in  the  successful  accomplishment  of  the 
work  of  restoration  of  our  great  painting  of  Trumbull's  Washington.  The  resolu- 
tion was  unanimously  adopted. 


*'■ . 


in  the  Revolution. 


123 


The  Mayur  announced  to  Council  that  Mr.  T.  Bailey  Myers,  of  New  York  city 
had  presented  to  the  city  three  rare  and  valuable  enjjravings  of  great  local  interest  to 
our  citizens  :  I.  Sir  Henry  Clinton's  map  of  the  siege  of  Charleston,  1780,  show- 
ing  the  city  and  the  harbor,  surrounding  country,  the  fortifications,  and  position  of  the 
Heet  under  Vice-Admiral  Mariot  Arbuthnot.  i.  An  engraved  portrait  of  William 
Pitt,  tarl  of  Chatham,  Secretary  of  State  from  the  year  1757  to  1768,  by  fames 
Barry,  R.  A  ,  September,  1778.  3.  «' An  exact  prospect  of  Charleston,  the 
nietropolis  of  the  Province  of  South  Carolina,  an  original  engraving  published  in 
.  the  Lond„n  Migazmf,  June,  1762."  In  this  connection.  Alderman  White  —  after 
a  preamble  again  describing  this  small  contribution,  which  is  iere  omitted  — 
presented  the  following-  resolutions  :  Beit  ResJveJ,  That  the  thanks  of  the 
City  Council  are  due  and  hereby  tendered  to  Mr.  T.  Bailey  Myers  for  these  valued 
gifts  and  we  assure  him  that  his  liberality  is  highly  appreciated  by  the  citizens  of 
Charleston.  R^sJveJ,  That  these  engravings  be  hung  on  the  walls  of  the  mayor's 
othce  and  carefully  preserved  as  objects  of  general  interest  to  our  community. 
I  fiese  resolutions  were  also  unanimously  adopted."  Such  recollection  of  past  tradi- 
t.otis,  in  an  ancient  city,  which  gallantly  resisted  royalist,  loyalist  and  torv,  in  the 
period  to  which  these  thing*  refer,  is  a  pleasant  evidence  of  adhesion  'to  early 
.'sympathies,  and   to   the  united  action   of  the  infant  states. 

Since  the  foregoing    paper  has  been    printed,  even  its  delay  for    .omc  illustration, 
has  evidenced   how   the  rapid   progress  of  the  world   atTects  the  smallest  at.im       Its 
suggestion  of  the  cl,.im  of  "  History  as  a  Fine  Art,"   has  been  by  a   gratifying  coin- 
cidence, in    that    interval    sustain.-d  —  with     his    usual    ability-- by   the    Rev     Dr 
Howard  Crosby,  in  a  paper  presented  before  the  Seventy-eighth  Anniversary  Meeting 
of    the  New  York    Historical  Society,  while  the    changes   in  the    method  of  corres- 
pondence, has  also  lately  recalled  editorial   notice  in  the  columns  of   the  "Times  ' 
Concurrence  of  thought,  we  know  naturally   exists  as  to  many   subjects  of  varied 
importance  in  a  nation  of  fifty  millions,  including  great  intelligence.      Differences   of 
conclusion  are  often    more   conspicuous.     The   comparison  of  opinions  in   public  in 
any  form,  may  demonstrate  the  value  of  convictions  to  some,  call  forth  tiie  sympathy 
ot   others,   who   have   entertained   without  expressing    tliem,  or   at   least  open  them 
to  correction.      Thought  has  always   been  considered   a  safe    predecessor    to  action 
At  least,  in  nubhc    affairs  it  w.njd    appear   that   advanced    methods   of  legislation 
cl  11m  careful  deliberate  consideration  by  their  prcsentors  as  well  as  by  the  representative, 
and  that  hasty  action  is  only  justified  where   circumstances  demand  the  experiment' 
Ihis   admitted.  Dr.    Crosby,  who    as  a    private    citizen    takes    an    active   interest  in 
current  public    administration,  might  be    induced  hereafter  to  show,  how  the    entire 
record  of    American    statesmanship  —  conformed    to    the   example   of    many   of  its 
fo.mer  and    present   elements,  w.is   affording   a   noble   example    of  self  devotion   in 
constiucting   history,  and    that    the  creation   as  well  as   the  condensation,    had    just 
claim  to  be  cop'sidered  as  a  fine  Art. 

Many  wise  and  pertinent  suggestions,  contained  in  tlie  President's  recent  message 
appear  to  otler  material  for  the  action  of  statesmanship,  rising  above  party  or  local 
considerations,  and  according  with  a  widely  expressed  sentiment  in  favor  of  such 
more  considerate  and  prudent  legislation  .is  W(  uld  seem  to  best  assure  the  prosperity 
and  permanency  of  our  institutions. 


